Aburame Lightning
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Abandoned on the doorstep of the Aburame clan, Shino must find his own path. But he isn't alone, because his best friend Naruto is always with him. What will happen when his own past comes to drag him back? Will the world that abandoned him survive?
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold morning in fall when Shibi Aburame walked outside his clan's door and found the child. It was little over a year old, and could have passed for an Uchiha with how pale it was.

With it was a note, in romanji of all things.

_'Take the little freak...we never wanted him. He's your problem now.'_

Curious as to why someone would leave an innocent child at their doorstep...they had the reputation for being rather disturbing because of the hives they had inside their bodies...he took it in.

When the infant opened it's eyes, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his wife would adopt the child. It wasn't like they couldn't afford to, and the child was still young enough to inherit the clan bugs.

"What is it dear?"

"Someone left this on our doorstep."

She took one look at the child and fell in love.

"What should we name him?"

"Shino."

She nodded in agreement. It was a fine name for a shinobi. And few people would ask where the child had come from, because there were a select few people who willingly associated with the Aburame clan. As far as the village knew, they had hidden the pregnancy. All that was left was dealing with the Hokage and forging the birth certificate.

* * *

"Someone was idiotic enough to leave and infant on your doorstep in the beginning of November?" asked the Hokage incredulous.

Shibi remained silent.

"I take it you and your wife wish to adopt the child?"

"Should the infant prove to be an orphan, I believe he would make an excellent addition to our clan."

Sarutobi looked at the man knowingly. Sometime during the last Shinobi war, his wife had taken a hit that the doctors told her would render her incapable of safely bearing a child. There was absolutely nothing they could do to fix the problem, unless they could find Tsunade.

The fact that Shibi was all too willing to adopt a child abandoned on the doorstep didn't surprise him in the least.

"Very well. We may as well start the paperwork. What story are you going to give the council?"

"My wife decided to hide the pregnancy, and we wanted to wait and make sure the infant would be able to survive before announcing him?"

The Hokage could believe that easily enough. The fact was that the last child they had had was rather weak, and had died within a few months. It would only appear natural that they would rather wait before introducing a second child.

The next month, Shibi was rather proud to announce his son Shino. A child which seemed to handle the clan bugs with ease. The other clans were rather shocked to hear about the child, but once he gave his explanation there were no further comments about the matter.

* * *

_Time Skip six years..._

Shino had grown into a healthy, if somewhat pale, seven year old. He didn't really mind the way people shot him freaked out looks, his father had explained the reason why civilians and shinobi alike thought them creepy.

To be honest, Shibi found the fact that Shino tended to find snakes in his bed rather worrying. Particularly when the child had mentioned the fact that he could speak to the snakes.

Shibi merely requested that he keep that particular ability to himself, since it would only cause the other children to avoid him even more. Shino understood that, and went to play anyway.

When he first entered the Academy, Shino found something rather odd about the teachers.

While he was used to getting the looks of wary respect, he was also aware that the teachers shot an entire different look at one of his new classmates. The boy was blond, loud and rather mischievous.

Yet the teachers acted as though he were the Kyuubi or something. Well, almost all of them. Iruka at least gave the boy sympathetic looks.

Shino wondered why, and decided to observe the situation before he did anything. What he saw shocked him more than he would like to admit.

Naruto Uzamaki was the class pariah. No one was willing to be friends with the boy, even though there was nothing Shino saw that would cause such a thing. The parents always removed their children whenever Naruto was around, and refused to let them play.

It was a rather lonely existence.

* * *

"Father...I have noted a rather disturbing trend surrounding one of my classmates. People seem to avoid him as actively as they do us, only they don't bother to hide their dislike of the boy."

Shibi stopped, and looked at Shino. His son was the most observant child he had ever seen. For him to say that meant he noticed something was very wrong, and he intended to correct it whether or not Shibi said it was alright.

"What is the child's name?"

"Uzamaki Naruto. The only teacher I have seen who doesn't make his life difficult is Iruka-sensei."

Shibi paused. Naruto Uzamaki was the name of the Kyuubi container. While he knew full well that if Shino associated with the boy he would be avoided more than usual, he also knew that his son was very stubborn. If he wanted to be friends with Naruto, he would go through with it no matter what Shibi said.

"Let me confirm your findings. Tomorrow I will stand in for you at the school. If you are correct, then you may befriend the boy."

"Yes father," said Shino. It was as close to a 'yes' that he would get that day.

When Shibi returned that day, he was astounded to find that Shino wasn't overstating the problem.

Every adult alive during the attack was actively preventing their children from getting close to Naruto. As if they feared he would infect them with the Kyuubi by befriending the boy.

After seeing the way Naruto was treated (Shino hadn't been joking when he said that the people barely treated him with any civility) he made up his mind. Shino looked up at his father, who said clearly "You may befriend the Uzamaki child... But please, try not to get caught pranking anyone."

Shino grinned, and somehow Shibi knew without a doubt, that he had just signed the village's death sentence.

* * *

Naruto looked up from his worn out book, struggling to read the letters. Iruka tried to help him read, but he usually got called away during their private lessons.

So when a shadow appears behind him, he turned and looked.

Shino Aburame, the only kid in the class that people avoided (only with less hatred in their eyes), was right behind him.

"Are you struggling with the text?" he asked.

"Yeah... Kinda hard to read when you can't understand the kanji."

"Would you like some help in learning how?" asked Shino.

Naruto stared in disbelief. Someone was willing to help him?

"Sure!" he said with enthusiasm.

Shino took time out of his lunch to help Naruto learn how to read. To his surprise, Naruto was a rather fast learner, if given a chance. The two could often be found debating the training scrolls that Shino checked out from the Academy library. Scrolls Naruto had been unable to access for reasons he never fully understood.

(Even though it was well known Shino had become close friends with Naruto, the librarian knew better than to antagonize one of the Noble clans. That was just _asking _for trouble!)

* * *

"_GET BACK HERE YOU BRATS!"_ yelled one of the chunin they had nailed with a rather inventive use of glue and feather tags.

Naruto grinned at his best friend Shino who, as always, was almost impossible to read if you didn't know the signs. Naruto was one of the extremely rare people who could tell what an Aburame was feeling without being told.

He was also one of the few outside the clan who dared to hang out with Shino.

Ever since Shino had initially approached Naruto, the two had become instant friends. Shino even assisted Naruto in pranking the village. It was their way of getting revenge for all the crap Naruto had to put up with on a daily basis.

Shino was quite sure that if he hadn't become friends with the boy, there was a very good chance Naruto would have had to live on ramen noodles and expired food.

As it was, Naruto was a frequent visitor at the Aburame mansion.

Shino lead them straight to the forest area. He had noted that none of the people who chased them ever dared to follow them once they entered that particular forest. When he asked his father, he learned that it had a rather disturbing reputation, and the only time people ever went into it was during the Chunin exams.

Well, almost never. There was one crazy kunoichi who would follow them, but they usually lost her with the help of the snakes that lived in the area. Naruto never thought to ask why Shino was able to talk to snakes when his clan was best know for their insect hives.

"Good thing crazy lady wasn't there today," said Naruto, taking a breather.

"For the last time, her name is Anko. And it's not a coincidence that she wasn't there. I copied her work schedule so we wouldn't run into her unless we're really bored," said Shino.

Naruto grinned.

They didn't even flinch when they heard hissing below them. They were so used to escaping into the forest that the snakes knew them by scent.

_Have fun boys?_

Shino grinned, and hissed back _"Glue and feather tags. I'm almost certain another dart board has been added to the Chunin lounge with our pictures on it."_

The snake hissed, laughing. The two 'hatchlings' as the serpents called them, brought the snakes no end of amusement.

Once they had caught their breath (and made very sure the coast was clear) they ran straight to the Aburame mansion. Shibi was waiting for them, amused.

"Are you aware of the new pictures on the Chunin lounge dart board?" he asked.

Shino looked at Naruto.

"Told you they would add new ones."

"Good thing we left them something to throw at. The last pictures they had were rather ruined from the amount of kunai they had thrown at it."

"Don't forget that large number of senbon. I didn't know you could ruin a dart board with that many lodged in the wall..."

Shibi looked at them amused.

"Dinner is in ten. Go get cleaned up."

"Yes sir!" they said in unison.

Shibi watched his son and his friend run to the bathroom. It was rather amusing that the heir to the clan wasn't even a blood member, and yet acted more responsibly than the Uchiha heir. The only real complaint the other clans had was the fact that Shino was rather good at pranking the village.

Being friends with Naruto only made his pranks worse.

Shino was his pride and joy. He almost dreaded the day when he had to tell the boy about where he really came from. And how hard the boy might take it.

* * *

Shino stared at the mirror. Once again, his green eyes stared back. He had once asked another clan member what color his parents eyes were, because they never removed their sunglasses even when indoors.

And found that for some reason, he hadn't inherited their eyes. He was rather surprised to find out that he was the only person in the clan with green eyes. And the only one in the village with emerald colored eyes.

Jewel colored eyes weren't that unusual. Naruto had sapphire colored eyes.

It bothered Shino that his skin tone was two shades paler than his parents. The only people with similar coloring were the Uchiha. The questions in his head were bothering him so much that he found it hard to sleep. Only the buzz of his hive could get him to even sleep, and it was still hard coming.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

So he confronted his parents over breakfast during one of the times Naruto wasn't sleeping over.

Shibi stared at his son, then sighed. He knew this day was coming, but he didn't have to like it though.

"Shino... You were adopted."

The simple fact of that statement stopped Shino cold. He was adopted?

That actually explained more than it didn't.

"How? When?"

"When you were a year and a half, I found you outside on our doorstep. You were so young that I couldn't in good conscience leave you at the orphanage. Your mother and I decided to adopt you and claim you as our own."

"Why was I left on a doorstep?"

Shibi brought out an old paper, written in romanji. Shino always had a naturally knack towards languages.

"I knew you had to be an orphan, because no real parent would dare call you a freak. No one has ever come asking about a child with green eyes and a scar above his right eye."

Shino sat down. It was a lot to take in all at once. Then he looked at his father and asked "Am I still an Aburame?"

Shibi smiled.

"Nothing has changed between us. You are still our son, even if we didn't give birth to you."

Shino nodded. That he could accept. No matter what anyone said he was still Shino Aburame, bane of the village.

He went to class, and continued on his day as if his world were still the same. Only Naruto knew something was off.

Like a good friend, he didn't press the matter. Shino would tell him when he was ready.

* * *

Shino was eager to try the genin exam. He had made it a point not to get promoted without Naruto with him. This was their third time taking the genin exam, and Naruto was worrying. Next week would make or break his lifelong dream of becoming Hokage.

The main problem was that one of the jutsu happened to be rather difficult for Naruto to use. Shino had issues with it as well, but he could always use one of the clan techniques which made a clone out of his personal hive.

"I can't use that little chakra! It either comes out wrong or it fails spectacularly!" Naruto complained.

"Perhaps you are not a genjutsu user. Maybe father will know of a way to make them solid."

Naruto stopped, and thought about it.

"With the amount of chakra I have, I think that may be my only option."

Shino nodded. Naruto had the highest amount of raw chakra in the class, followed closely by Sasuke Uchiha and Shino. That fact had shocked their teachers, since everyone knew the hive inside an Aburame made it rather difficult to use the higher level ninjutsu. They made up that fact with their bugs.

Naruto and Shino made their way to the Aburame mansion, and when asked about a way to make clones solid, Shibi gave them a look.

"If this is a way to learn a stronger jutsu to impress your teachers..." he left the end hanging.

"Naruto can't do the regular clones. It takes too little chakra and he simply doesn't have such a fine tuned control of his. I can probably get away with a kikai clone, but I have trouble with the regular clones as well."

Shibi stared at his son. He had known Shino had a larger than normal amount of chakra for the clan, but he hadn't known that it was causing him problems with the lower level techniques.

"Fine... There is one technique that I know of, but it's a jounin level one. I can only manage one or two at best," he admitted.

Shibi showed Naruto the signs, and set the boys to work. Much to his shock and amusement, Naruto not only managed to pull off the technique within two hours, but he was able to bring out at least thirty clones.

He could see why the boy had such trouble learning the weaker techniques. Shino surprised him the most, because he was able to bring out ten clones of his own.

That could be a problem. People already suspected he wasn't a full Aburame, despite being the son of the Clan head. If it wasn't for the fact that Shino had an innate knack for controlling his kikai bugs, people would start wondering who's clan he belonged to.

Then again, odd things always happened around Shino. They just took his strangeness in stride these days.

Shibi decided to go visit the Hokage and make a suggestion for the genin teams. He didn't doubt that the boys would pass the test.

* * *

"Hello Aburame-san. What can I do for you?"

"I was going to make a suggestion for the genin teams this year."

"Shino and Naruto?"

He nodded.

"They make a rather good team. Any recommendations for the third member?" he asked.

"The Hyuuga heir. She seems to be the only kunoichi in that class with any real sense. The others tend to hang off of the Uchiha's every word. Haruno should be avoided...she has a nasty tendency to hit Naruto when annoyed, and Yamanaka would only upset the hive inside Shino with her shrieking."

The Hokage took that under advisement. He was well aware of the little training tricks Shino had been teaching Naruto to identify specific scents. They could make a formidable capture and interrogation team if given a chance and an instructor who could deal with Naruto without glaring at him.

The only issue was whether the boys would pass this year.

* * *

Iruka called Naruto, almost dreading the fact that he would have to watch Naruto flunk, again. It wasn't his fault that the exam included a jutsu that required so little chakra that Naruto couldn't do it properly.

Naruto stood proudly before them, almost grinning like a fox. He put his hands into the proper seal like Shibi had taught him, and said "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Iruka's mouth dropped, as Naruto created no less than ten perfect shadow clones! There was only one issue. Mizuki was the other proctor.

"Pass?" he asked, hoping Mizuki wasn't going to act like an idiot.

Mizuki sullenly agreed to pass Naruto. The brat had outdid his classmates, except for the Aburame kid who had done a bug clone.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto bounced out of the room with a smirk that sent shivers down the spines of everyone but Shino. The headband on his head only made his classmates groan in horror.

Shino, however, grinned.

"Did they flip out?"

"Iruka's mouth dropped. I don't think Mizuki-sensei was very happy about passing me though..."

"He's one of the idiots. Forget about him."

Naruto grinned, and then pulled out a book. Thanks to Shino, he had a real love of just sitting down to read. Sometimes, he would go to the Aburame mansion, find a tree, and just sit down to read. None of the clan ever noticed him during those times.

Naruto ignored the parents that picked up their children. Shino's mom and dad liked him well enough, so why should he care what they thought? They thought Shino was creepy anyway, because of his bugs.

"How does ramen at Ichiraku sound?" asked Shino.

"You bet! Who's buying?"

Shino smirked.

"Mizuki is. I saw that look he shot you when you walked out, so I nicked his wallet."

Naruto grinned evilly. Shino would sometimes steal the wallets of the teachers who treated him badly, and they would eat their fill of ramen in revenge.

Shibi never bothered to correct that behavior, since it was a good way to practice his ninja skills.

* * *

Later that night, Mizuki came to Naruto with what he made out to be a relatively harmless prank. Naruto, without Shino to help guide his pranks, fell for the trick.

The moment Shino over heard what Naruto had done, he immediately went to his side.

"You do realize you stirred up an Aburame hive when you stole that."

Naruto looked up from the scroll, and realized Shino happened to be there.

"Check this out. First jutsu on the scroll is the shadow clone."

Shino, who realized this was likely the only chance he would ever get to look at the scroll while a Genin, decided to join in. It wasn't long until Shino had a blank scroll and was copying down all the jutsu he found interesting.

It took Iruka an hour to find Naruto, and Shino had hidden himself. It was unlikely the Chunin would realize he was there...or that they had taken jutsu off the scroll.

(The task of copying was much easier and faster thanks to a strange power Shino had. He merely had to touch the jutsu and a blank spot on the scroll, and the thing was copied. It would have taken hours otherwise.)

* * *

Shino was shocked to learn that Naruto was the container for the Kyuubi. Fortunately Naruto didn't believe for a minute that he was alone.

He always had Shino to back him up...or help him get out of trouble.

Naruto bolted, with Shino right behind him. Shino was beyond livid at the way Mizuki treated his friend. It was clear that the man was a traitor, he knew he could sick his _entire_ hive without fearing his father's lecture. The fact that he hated Mizuki was only a bonus.

Naruto finally paused, and the two listened in to the conversation between instructors. Shino was thrilled to hear that the one instructor he didn't actively dislike not only cared about Naruto, he actually viewed him as a fellow shinobi.

Which was why the minute the two finally revealed their presence (Iruka was surprised that Shino had been there the entire time) Shino was more than happy to let loose nearly a hundred thousand bugs on Mizuki.

Iruka was shocked to learn that Shino not only had bugs to steal chakra from his enemies, but he also had a few that healed.

Shino was the only one in the clan with enough chakra to have them though. Those particular bugs ate four times the amount of the regular ones, and most Aburame couldn't handle more than ten of them.

It was why they were relatively unused.

Once Shino drained Mizuki of any chakra he had, Naruto finished him off with a ridiculous amount of clones.

"Are you alright Iruka-sensei?" asked Shino.

"How long have you been here?"

"I arrived fifty minutes before you did. I heard everything."

Iruka didn't look happy about that. Then Shino decided to trust the man as much as Naruto clearly did.

"Then again... If Naruto can make friends with someone who's not an Aburame by blood, then who's to say that I can't make friends with the loudest idiot in the village?"

Iruka and Naruto stared.

"What?"

"I'm adopted," repeated Shino.

And then he did something that had them in complete shock. He took off his famous sunglasses and revealed the clearest emerald eyes they had ever seen.

"No one else in the village has the same clear green eyes. Believe me I've checked. Father told me that someone left me on the doorstep eleven and a half years ago."

"So _that's_ what was bothering you a few years ago!" said Naruto in surprise.

"Besides, Naruto is one of the rare people who have been able to tell whenever I'm upset. I'm not about to drop a friend like that just because of some demon."

Iruka smiled, and told them that he would take them both out to ramen...once someone picked Mizuki up.

The two boys looked at each other, and snickered. Iruka shot them a look.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Shino tossed Iruka a wallet. It looked familiar. Then he realized who it belonged to.

"You two were the ones who stole his wallet?"

"Iruka-sensei, you're the _only_ teacher in that school whose wallet I haven't stolen," said Shino deadpan.

Suddenly all the complaints by his fellow teachers about losing their wallets made absolute sense. And why he was the only person who hadn't suffered the problem of finding it later with no cash left in it.

"You see Iruka-sensei, whenever one of the teachers had been particularly cruel or mean to Naruto, I stole their wallet. I had hoped they would take the hint to leave Naruto alone, but unfortunately none of them ever got the message."

"Yeah, and I couldn't very well say anything because then they would think I did it," said Naruto.

* * *

Shino was rather eager to meet his team. He only hoped he was on one with Naruto...and not Haruno. The pink haired demon was a little too violent to be on the same team as his friend, especially without him to prevent her from giving Naruto a concussion.

(It had happened once, and as far as Shino had anything to say about it, it would never happen again.)

Shibi was rather amused by his son's eagerness. He knew full well that the Hokage was going to put Shino and Naruto on the same team, the only question was who else would be stuck with their insanity.

At least he had comfort in knowing that whichever instructor landed the boys, they wouldn't be biased against Naruto. Kakashi, Asuma and Kuranai were three of the few jounin who didn't hate the kid on sight. And since one of the Noble clans were on the team, there wasn't a chance the Hokage would stick them with sub par teachers.

"Have fun...and remember, whoever you get stuck with is a comrade. You aren't allowed to use the kikai bugs on them."

Shino stared at his father.

"Not even a little chakra leeching?"

"If I hear you drained anyone dry again, I will have your missions restricted to catching that damn cat or cleaning after the Inuzuka dogs."

"Mizuki was a traitor who tried to get Naruto killed. I stand by my actions," said Shino firmly.

"Which is the only reason you're not grounded from your calligraphy class," said Shibi.

Shino winced. Calligraphy was one of his few normal hobbies, and the teacher didn't shirk away from him because of his bugs. Instead he would give Shino talks about bugs that could be used for ink. It was Shino's favorite class.

Shino ran into Naruto, who cheerfully greeted him as if nothing had happened.

"Any idea who we'll get?" he asked.

"Not a clue. Hopefully we'll get the same team. And Haruno will be placed far, far from us," said Shino.'

"I don't get why you hate Sakura-chan so much."

"She's a violent, Uchiha-obsessed stalker, with sociopath tendencies and she hates you. What more do I need? She's more likely to fawn over Sasuke than to actually get a mission done. Frankly I think Yamanaka-san is a better kunoichi than her."

Fate clearly had it in for Shino, because Sakura happened to be passing by and heard his comment. He sensed the impending fist, and without realizing it, the two disappeared with a crack of displaced air.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Naruto, slightly dizzy.

"My Haruno-detector went off. She was about to hit me on the head. You know how I feel about her punches."

It was then that Sakura appeared, having guessed where Shino would go.

"ABURAME!" she shrieked.

There was a reason why Shino was usually quiet unless Naruto was around. Loud noises tended to get his hive worked up. And since he was already trying to avoid Sakura, it wasn't really a surprise to Naruto what happened next.

Shino's hive reacted.

Sakura took one look at the bugs and backed away from the corner so fast that Shino knew if he had blinked he would have missed it.

"Haruno, there is a very good reason, aside from the fact that you two are fan girls of the Uchiha, that I never sit anywhere near you or Ino. Loud noises bother them greatly."

"It's true. I heard your cousin complain about that when one of the genin set off that explosive tag near the mansion," said Naruto.

Iruka walked in, took one look at Sakura hugging the wall and the hive, and guessed what happened.

"Shino, were you being unusually blunt around Sakura again?"

"I was talking to Naruto on the way here, and didn't realize she was walking down the street," he answered blandly.

"Right. Could you recall the hive?"

"Hai."

The insects went back, mostly because the danger had passed.

Shino and Naruto took their usual spot, and waited for the team announcements.

"Team eight, you will be Naruto Uzamaki, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga. Your jounin instructor is Kurenai."

"Thank kami..." said Shino.

Sasuke looked relieved too, though he was a bit annoyed that Shino had lucked out. It would have been amusing to see how the two reacted to Sakura being on their team.

Then he ran that scenario through his head and winced.

Sakura wouldn't last a week before Shino drove her completely insane. Shino had made it very clear over the years how he felt about the girl.

While he would work with her when forced, he wanted nothing to do with the harpy. The fact that she hated Naruto with a passion, and tended to give him rather large and painful bruises only made his dislike worse.

Hinata also couldn't believe her luck. She had a major crush on Naruto, and Shino was her friend in calligraphy class, sometimes helping her out. Plus Kurenai sometimes let her crash on her couch whenever her father was acting more like a jerk than usual.

So yes, she had definitely lucked out in concerns to her new team.

Naruto was just happy to have Shino on the same team as him.

* * *

"Likes, dislikes and dreams. We'll start with blondie." said Kurenai.

"I like ramen, books and pranks! I dislike the time it takes for the ramen to be done, and people who judge you without really getting to know you. My dream is to become Hokage!"

She looked at Shino.

"I enjoy miso ramen, books, calligraphy, pranks, and collecting new bugs. I dislike abuse, people who try to hurt Naruto without really knowing him, and loud sounds. My dream is to one day find a one of a kind insect."

_Interesting choices,_ thought Kurenai. She looked at Hinata.

"I like calligraphy, practicing my jutsu and... (she blushed, but decided to go straight to the second part). I dislike people who judge you on sight, and violence without a good reason. My dream is to... be a kunoichi like my mother and... (she blushed even heavier and couldn't get it out)."

Shino was well aware of Hinata's crush on Naruto. Being observant had it's perks. Fortunately, he liked Hinata enough not to mention that attraction to the blond.

"We'll meet at training ground ten. Be on time."

"Yes ma'am," said Shino.

He liked their instructor already. She didn't glare at Naruto for no reason, but was more indifferent than anything. Shino knew Asuma liked Naruto, after all he was related to the Third. And Kakashi... Shino once saw him protect Naruto from a civilian.

* * *

Shino arrived early, to scout the area. He ended up finding a few snakes around, and chatted with them a bit. They weren't surprised he could talk, since the ones in the Forest of Death liked to chat with their smaller cousins.

According to the snakes in the forest, they liked his scent. He smelled of nature, instead of humanity.

Hinata arrived next, and she blushed when she saw Shino.

"Morning, Hinata-chan."

"Morning, Shino-kun. Looking for new bugs?"

"Any bug here is probably already in my hive. I was talking to the snakes."

"Snakes?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're surprisingly rather chatty. The only real downside is that they're mostly perverts."

She decided not to comment. Chances were pretty good that Shino was speaking to a summon, though there were very few people in the village who bothered with snake summons after Orochimaru.

Naruto showed up, yawning. Shino paused, and looked at him.

"Naruto, did you drink from expired milk again?"

"Hmm? I didn't check," said Naruto.

"My kikai bugs tell me you will be on the toilet for the next few hours. You may need to get rid of your breakfast unless you want to get into trouble," said Shino.

"I didn't get much sleep last night. Some idiot was partying below my house."

"Need any help?"

"Nah... I'll be back in a bit," said Naruto.

Hinata looked at Shino with wide eyes.

"Expired milk?"

"For reasons only Naruto may explain, the majority of the civilians that live in the village hate him. They take it out on him by forcing him to buy expired foods. Thankfully he has enough common sense to come to the mansion and eat with us, otherwise he would be living solely on ramen and whatever fruits he is currently growing in the apartment next door."

Kurenai arrived five minutes later, and she didn't seem happy.

"Where's Naruto?"

"He didn't realize he had drank expired milk this morning, and is getting rid of it before it becomes a problem," said Shino.

Kurenai paused, and heard the sound.

"Right. Once he's done we'll start."

Ten minutes later Naruto was annoyed to learn they had one more test to pass before becoming an official team. When he learned it didn't involve a paper exam, he was all for it.

"Right...If it comes down to it, I could probably blackmail Kurenai to stay on the team. First we have to find her though."

Naruto grinned. And held up the kunai Kurenai had thrown at him earlier. Apparently she had issues with loud people. (Then again this was the woman who lived with one of the craziest people in the village.)

"Alright, Naruto, get her scent. Hinata, you'll help me by being the early warning system. Once I get close enough I can place a tracker on her."

They vanished.

* * *

Kurenai was rather impressed. She was well aware of Naruto's nose, which was why she had stayed downwind of the team. Shino was clearly the leader, and knew each of their basic abilities well.

Then again, she wasn't surprised to see the boy lead the others. The two boys were infamous in the ANBU headquarters, especially when Shino was leading the loud blond one.

The cursing they inspired in the ANBU lounge were legendary.

Strangely enough, Anko absolutely adored the boys, particularly Shino.

She stopped musing when she heard Naruto crash nearby. Unnoticed by the kunoichi, a small bug attached itself on her back.

For the next two hours, she had to duck, dodge and avoid the genin.

Things really took a turn for the worse when Shino caught her with his genjutsu.

She really hadn't expected the kid to know anything nearly as disturbing as the vision he hit her with. From what she knew, the Aburame clan weren't that good with illusions.

Shino was rather talented with them. And his intricate knowledge about insects only made his illusions much more realistic.

She would have nightmares for a week after that though.

(If you're wondering what he did, he placed Kurenai under the illusion of flesh eating beetles with her being in the pit with them. Think _The Mummy Returns_, in the scene where Ankh-Se-Namen falls into the pit with the scarabs.)

She heard the alarm go off, and felt relieved beyond belief.

Shino and Hinata had the two bells, and Naruto was grinning like the fox container he was.

"Alright team, you've passed!"


	3. Chapter 3

Shino wasn't looking forward to today. After passing the test, Kurenai had them doing the most annoying chores. On the plus side, they were banned permanently from capturing Tora, the cat from Hell, after Shino gave the fiend the worst case of fleas the feline had ever had.

Apparently it had taken two entire weeks to finally get rid of them. And even then they returned for days at a time.

Naruto laughed himself sick over that one.

There was one good thing about being on a team with Hinata. Over the course of a few weeks, the girl was really coming out of her shell. Naruto's boisterous attitude and Shino's gentle support had the girl's confidence growing weekly.

Kurenai proved to be an excellent teacher, particularly when it came to Genjutsu. She had been very surprised to learn that Shino was a natural at using the art, though he had great difficulty holding it for more than an hour. The more intricate the illusion, the less time he could hold it.

On the plus side, the team worked great together. Naruto had the strangest ability to bring them together, while Shino found ways to use their abilities to their full potential in a mission. Hinata was their healer.

After dealing with a month of boring chores, they were finally given a Chunin rank mission. There was just one catch.

The client was a drunk who was adept at pushing Naruto's buttons.

Shibi, when he learned of where the mission was going to take place, decided to add to his son's hive.

There were very few bugs that could thrive in the water.

Shino took one look at the bugs and decided against adding them. When asked, his father was somewhat surprised at the answer.

"I don't want the fireflies to electrocute them by accident."

Shino had, at Kurenai's suggestion, tested to see what his elemental type was. He had startled the woman greatly when she found out that he had two elemental types, with a minor in a third.

Shino was good at fire and lightning jutsu, and was somewhat adept at wind. Naruto was good at wind as well, but had some ability in the other four.

Hinata was an Earth and Water type user.

"Fine, but I expect to see at least three new insect species when you get back."

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Naruto, duck and cover!" shouted Shino.

They had barely been away from the village more than an hour, and already Shino had the worst migraine he had ever dealt with.

Their client had not only _lied_ about who was after him, but he had under ranked the mission. And now they had to deal with rogue ninja after their blood.

Shino silently sighed. Some days he really hated waking up.

Hinata and Shino had made quick work of the two brothers, while Naruto guarded the client.

Shino drained most of their chakra while Hinata sealed off their jutsu. It was an effective combo.

"Alright team, should we continue or go back?" asked Kurenai.

"Continue, but only if we get some back up. If we succeed I'm sure Mr. Tazuna's problem will have mostly been taken care of," said Shino.

Naruto completely agreed.

Unfortunately, Kurenai didn't have any summons on her. Which meant they would have some problem getting word back to the village.

Or so she thought.

Shino sighed. Then went into the forest and brought back a snake curled around his arm.

"Taka has agreed to deliver the message, though it could take a day or two before he can make it to the ANBU headquarters."

Kurenai stared.

"Where did you get a poisonous snake that willingly delivers messages?"

"I listened. When I found him I asked politely and he agreed. Snakes usually agree to reasonable demands if you can deal with listening to their perverted humor."

Kurenai tied the message around the snake, and Taka slithered in the direction of Konoha. Every snake within a twenty mile radius of the village was aware of Anko Mitarashi and Shino. However only one of the two could actually speak to the regular snakes.

* * *

_Back in the T & I department..._

Anko heard the hiss, and looked up from the evil paperwork. There was one of the more poisonous snakes in the vents...and it had a scroll with Kurenai's neat handwriting.

Once she thanked the snake (and fed it a mouse that she always kept on hand, to the horror of the other females in her section) she read the scroll...and ran straight to the Hokage.

"Anko, what's the rush?" asked Ibiki.

She handed over the scroll, and upon reading it he went with her.

"Hello Anko, Ibiki."

"Hokage-sama, I just got a message from Kurenai that the client under rated the mission they are currently on. She's requesting backup."

The Hokage stared at her, before reading the scroll.

"How did you get this? I wasn't aware she had a summoning contract."

"Kurenai wrote the message, but it was the Aburame brat who got it to me."

At the sound of affection in her voice, the two men looked at her curiously.

"What? The kid likes snakes as much as I do, and he can talk to the big ones in Area 44!"

The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose. Most of the other genin teams wouldn't be able to handle this kind of mission, and the only one that could would have even greater difficulty dealing with Shino's team.

Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka and Sasuke Uchiha all had some issue with at least _one_ of the members on the team.

Sakura hated Naruto and Shino, Sasuke had a slight problem with bugs and disliked Naruto for the many times the boy pranked him, and Kiba was louder than Naruto was on his worst day!

"I can go sir," suggested Anko sweetly.

"Fine, you can go back Kurenai up. It's a better idea than sending one of the rookie teams," sighed the Hokage.

She cheered, and went to get her usual bag to pack. She usually kept it by the door just in case.

* * *

"So what other Ninja villages are there?" asked Shino. He was bored.

"There are several, but the most notable ones are Sand, Mist, Leaf, Rock, and Cloud. Each of them is lead by a Kage."

"The Hokage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage and Kazekage?" said Shino.

"How did you know about that?"

"I read."

It wasn't until they saw the half completely bridge that Naruto finally said something.

He had nearly frozen up during the fight, but years of pranking the ANBU with Shino had managed to get him moving. He half hoped to redeem himself, at least until Shino took it upon himself to cheer the boy up.

"Naruto, I would have frozen too if my hive hadn't been egging me on at the time."

"Really?" he asked.

"My fireflies were buzzing more than normal, and gave me a shock the moment the puddles exploded."

Shino, upon learning of his elemental specialty, had tried something new with his hive. It was rather amusing to see the look of complete shock on Kurenai's face when she found out that Shino had managed to get the fireflies in his hive to hold an electrical charge.

Once or twice, Sasuke had paid Shino to shock his teacher with the bugs so the man would show up on time.

To say Kakashi had gotten the point was an understatement. He had become slightly paranoid of late whenever he saw a flying bug. For some strange reason, even though he was a Lightning user too, Shino's spark actually hurt the man.

Naruto laid the blame on the weird ability Shino sometimes displayed. Like the few times they had somehow appeared above the Aburame mansion during a prank. They always appeared without warning with a loud crack, to Shibi's displeasure.

Over the weeks since becoming genin, Shino had been experimenting with the odd ability, and had managed to figure out how to use it on command.

Getting it to work properly without the crack was another story.

Naruto was at least a bit more aware of his surroundings this time around. Though Shino could have done without the random kunai being thrown in his direction. Right as he was about to tell Naruto to stop, the boy accidentally alerted them to the fact they were about to be ambushed.

"DUCK!" shouted Kurenai.

A large blade flew over their heads, and Hinata barely got the client down in time to avoid his head being cut off.

And then everything quickly went pear shaped.

Naruto, Shino and Hinata all took defensive stances around Tazuna. The man wisely kept his trap shut.

Shino was the first to react to the man when he abruptly appeared behind them. His kikai bugs turned the water clone into a puddle beneath their feet before the others registered his presence.

The Demon of the Bloody Mist had been somewhat impressed by the reaction time.

"Naruto, you and Hinata protect Tazuna while I assist Sensei," said Shino.

"Be careful Shino," said Hinata.

Zabusa wasn't impressed with his bravado...until Shino unleashed at least half of his fireflies, all with a rather potent electrical charge.

The sparks sent off by the insects prevented the water clones from harming him, while Shino got up close with the man. Zabusa tried to trick him onto the water...only to discover that Shino had thought of that problem and taken to the sky on his hive.

It was one of Naruto's favorite tricks. They had escaped the ANBU more than once by riding on Shino's hive. It wasn't exactly _their_ fault that people rarely looked up.

Shino sent wave after wave of insects. Zabusa was unhappy to learn that the boy was steadily leeching his chakra...and redirecting it to his teacher.

Kurenai started to push Zabusa back. Right as the man was about to launch a counter attack..._she_ appeared.

Her timing was as horrible as ever.

Anko grinned when she saw her favorite Aburame helping her roommate out.

It was simple enough why she liked Shino (and by extension Naruto). Shino liked snakes as much as she did, and could honestly care less that she was the abandoned apprentice of the traitor Orochimaru.

Well, that and he put up with her quirks.

To be fair, she was also one of the rare people who had seen his eyes. And knew he was only the Aburame heir because Shibi had adopted him and no one knew about it. She wasn't going to betray that trust.

With the addition of Anko, Zabusa was definitely in a fix.

With absolutely no warning at all, two senbon suddenly lodged themselves in Zabusa's neck. Anko wasn't impressed by the little act in the least.

"Thanks for the assistance. I have been tracking him for some time," said a young voice.

According to Shino's hive, the person before them was female.

"Knock off the act Gaki. If you're planning on killing someone, you don't go for the neck," Anko said.

The figure leaned down to pick up Zabusa, and they didn't move. It was a stalemate at the moment anyway. Kurenai needed to heal and Zabusa was in no condition to bother them for a bit.

Besides, if they allowed him to live now, Gato wouldn't bother hiring someone who could be more troublesome later.

* * *

Anko helped Kurenai to the bed, while the others watched Tazuna.

"We should be able to take it easy for a few days. The nerves that brat hit put people in a death like state, and those aren't easy to recover from," said Anko. Kurenai was sound asleep.

"That was a girl who attacked him. Apprentice?" suggested Shino.

Anko looked at him.

"How the hell do you know that was a girl?"

"My hive reacts differently to depending on gender," said Shino blandly.

"Anyway, I seriously doubt we'll have to deal with the girl until Zabusa recovers. In the meantime, I'm going to get you brats up to date on Elemental chakra," said Anko.

Hinata happened to share a similar preference to Anko, which meant she would have Anko all to herself. Luckily for her, she was used to Anko's antics. Plus Anko was already aware of Hinata's confidence problem, since the girl often crashed at Kurenai's house.

Shino had a few wind scrolls he had brought with him from the Clan library. He had only been expecting bandits, which often scattered unless they were being lead by a ninja.

He had hoped that he could help Naruto learn a few wind tricks. They had moved past water walking ages ago.

(It was the only reason they had put up with catching Tora three times in a single week.)

"Naruto, catch."

Shino tossed one of the higher classed ninjutsu scrolls he had found to his friend. Naruto fumbled a bit, but didn't drop it.

"Where did you get that gaki?" asked Anko.

"I borrowed a few elemental scrolls before I left. I brought a few for Hinata-chan as well," said Shino.

Hinata caught hers with a bit more ease that Naruto had.

"Expecting a break?" asked Kurenai.

"The mission was only for bandits. I wasn't planning on Jounin and Chunin level shinobi from Mist," said Shino blandly.

"Fair point. Naruto, why don't you work on that Wind scroll while I help Shino with his fire power?"

"Hai, Kurenai-sensei!"

Naruto loved Kurenai. She not only taught him new jutsu when he asked, but she never glared at him. She even took time to explain to him whenever he was confused. The fact that Shino also liked her made her his favorite Jounin.

Kurenai was a bit of a pyro, which was probably why she even dared to share a house with Anko Mitarashi.

Shino also shared her love of burning things. He once accidentally set the Uchiha compound on fire when he was eight.

Itachi Uchiha, the supposed traitor of the clan (it was one rumor he didn't believe in the least) had been the one to find out that it was Shino who did it.

Shino had more or less struck up a friendship with the boy, who was rather startled to learn that Shino wasn't as boring as his clan.

Well, that and Shino was more than happy to share a few scrolls in exchange for borrowing some from Itachi.

Scrolls Shino now owned, since he didn't want the Elders to learn he had been friends with the rogue Uchiha. Itachi had been considerate enough to leave the scrolls he had borrowed outside Shino's window, so no one was aware they had gone missing.

Shino put his hands into the seals without blinking. He had been intrigued by the dragonfire technique he had heard about before Itachi went rogue, but had never had the time to properly try it out.

It was a strictly Uchiha clan trick.

Kurenai stared when the immense dragon of flame appeared before her. That was clearly a jounin level technique...so where the hell did Shino get enough chakra to pull it off?

"Sensei?" asked Shino.

"Shino...how is it that you have enough chakra to produce a full dragon?" she asked.

"I...have no idea. Perhaps I still have some of Zabusa's chakra left over?"

That would make a little bit of sense, but she could sense it wasn't the full story.

Shino was a bundle of mysteries wrapped in a lock where the key was a puzzle.

He was the only Aburame alive who could use fire and lightning type jutsu, which was generally shunned because they killed insects in large quantities. He was more social, and wasn't shunned by a majority of the village...except for when he was pranking people Naruto Uzumaki. And then there were his eyes.

Shino was the only person in Konoha with emerald green eyes.

No one knew who his birth parents were, or why someone had left him on the Aburame doorstep nearly twelve years ago. He didn't admit the fact that he was adopted to just anyone, unless he trusted them completely.

Which begged the question...who was Shino Aburame?

* * *

Naruto was passed out on the ground, the scroll Shino had given him pinned beneath his body. He was so tired that he didn't register the person near him until a gentle hand shook him awake.

He woke up with a start, expecting to see Hinata there.

Instead it was a girl who could rival Hinata in the looks department. She had warm brown eyes and light raven black hair.

He could sense the faint pulse of chakra beneath her skin, which meant she had to be Zabusa's mysterious apprentice.

Naruto kept his demeanor open, keeping the fact that he knew who she was to himself. He even helped her pick medicinal herbs to heal her master.

"See you later, Haku-chan! Tell Zabusa we'll be waiting for him!" said Naruto cheerfully.

Haku stumbled slightly, caught off guard by that last remark.

She paused, and looked at him.

"You knew?"

"Chakra hum under the skin. Hard not to notice, particularly since I'm friends with someone with bugs under theirs," said Naruto, never dropping his friendly stance.

"Bugs?" she asked. She didn't really mind them that much, but she found them somewhat annoying at times.

"Tall, dark hair and wears sunglasses even when indoors," he clarified.

"The one who used fireflies to zap Master Zabusa?" she asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Interesting trick. I wish we weren't on opposite sides..."

"Never know. Maybe Gato will do something phenomenally stupid and you can join us on the walk home."

"We don't have a home."

"Like I said, things change. See you later Haku-chan!" said Naruto.

Haku walked away, wondering about the oddity that was Naruto Uzumaki.


	4. Chapter 4

Anko stared at Naruto. He had run into Zabusa's apprentice...and didn't fight her.

She hit him on the head lightly. She was one of the few that Shino allowed to hit Naruto.

Mostly because she only did it when he was being a true idiot.

"Why didn't you attack her?" she demanded.

"One, I had just woken up. Two, my chakra was really sluggish. Three, it was a chance to display my knowledge of medicinal plants without someone glaring at me," said Naruto.

Naruto had a small greenhouse in the apartment next to his. Since no one wanted to live next to him, Shino convinced his father to help Naruto buy the apartment next door and turn it into a greenhouse.

In exchange Naruto grew medicinal herbs for the Aburame clan.

The only downside was that the hospital refused to buy them, even if they were more effective than the ones grown in the official greenhouses.

(However that didn't stop Chouji's mother from buying the fruits Naruto grew. So long as she didn't know who grew the plants, she would buy them in bulk.)

* * *

Naruto was almost finished with his wind trick. It was a variation on the bug cloud Shino sometimes used to get above ground.

It called up strong wind currents to support his weight, but the trick was getting the wind to stay still long enough for him to fly.

Eventually, he grew frustrated enough to overpower the jutsu...and found that he had made a solid disk of pure wind. Shino paused in his training to stare. Naruto was levitating a good ten feet off the ground on a semi-corporeal disk of pure air.

"Finally figured it out?" he asked.

"Had to overpower it."

"Ah."

Shino's attention was quickly brought back to the dragon he had summoned that was roughly the size of a medium sized dog. It had taken advantage of his distraction to try and run rampant.

Hinata beat him to the flames, as she summoned up a dragon of water. The hiss of the fire could be heard for quite some time.

"Well done Hinata! I think you have that one down!" said Anko cheerfully.

"Arigato Anko-san," said Hinata.

It was something of a miracle. A few days of training exclusively with Anko had managed to do what Shino had unsuccessfully attempted over the past two months.

She had gotten rid of the stutter.

Now if only she could get rid of that twitch.

Kurenai looked at Shino with amusement. She saw Naruto and gave him a thumbs up. Now that he knew how to create the disk, he had to work on his control.

Naruto stayed up in the air for a good two hours before the distraction Anko caused made him fall flat on his ass.

If Zabusa didn't show up tomorrow, then Anko was going to use Naruto as target practice so he could get used to flying during a combat situation.

* * *

Naruto was sound asleep when Kurenai took the rest for their guard duty. Anko took night shift to prevent anyone from sabotaging the bridge during the night.

When he woke up, it was to the sounds of combat.

Inari, the rather rude and whiny grandson of Tazuna, was in trouble.

Naruto got rid of the bandits, once he was awake enough to realize what was going on. He unwittingly managed to get the brat to grow up a little in the process.

Naruto was quick to head to the bridge, where he heard the sounds of fighting.

* * *

Anko and Kurenai were giving Zabusa hell while Shino was distracting the apprentice. Hinata had been drafted into protecting the client, since she had learned how to surround him in a ball of chakra.

Naruto burst into the weird ice mirror thing that Shino was trapped in, getting a whack upside the head courtesy of Shino.

"Naruto, did it ever occur to you that maybe there was a reason _why_ I haven't escaped the ice mirrors?"

Naruto brightened...then his face fell. He could see where Shino was going with this.

"Oops."

Shino removed his hand. Naruto could learn, if given the proper teaching.

"It's too late now... You can provide a barrier while I get the dragon to come out," Shino said tiredly.

His chakra was running rather low, as his bugs couldn't follow the shinobi into the mirrors. Something else was coiled up inside him, waiting to be unleashed. But he had no idea what it was.

Naruto created a shield, using his new wind disk to keep the senbon from hitting them. Shino was almost ready to unleash his dragon...when the secondary power erupted with no warning.

Flames stronger than any he had ever produced before flew from outside the shield actually melting the ice. The girl fell flat on the bridge, temporarily stunned.

Shino didn't waste his time, completely covering her in the chakra eating insects. He left just enough for her to breath, but she wouldn't be using her kekkei genkai anytime soon.

Naruto was quick to help Hinata, since Shino told him to let their teacher fight her own battles.

Shino was tired, but he could still fight. Even so, he was in no mood to battle anyone else at the moment.

He went to the girl, who was starting to wake up. She had suffered a nasty blow to the head when she crashed.

"How did you...?" she asked.

"I haven't the foggiest. How's your head?" he asked pleasantly.

"Aren't you supposed to kill me?"

"Our only orders were to protect the bridgebuilder. Besides, men like Gato aren't very good at keeping their word," he said bluntly.

His case was proven when, fifteen minutes later Gato arrived with a large army of bandits. He planned to kill the ninja and Tazuna.

Too bad Zabusa had other plans.

Anko cheerfully tossed him a kunai, which he used to kill Gato.

Haku, who would have joined him in a heartbeat if she hadn't lost so much strength, watched in mute silence as Zabusa killed the man.

The injuries he received from the run into the mass of bandits were fatal. Even Hinata would have trouble treating them. Only a professional medic nin could have healed him at that point.

Which was why everyone was shocked when after Shino helped Haku to her master, a bright light hit the man. When they could see again, Zabusa was healed...though his chakra was so depleted it would take him some time to be able to use his techniques again.

Shino, on the other hand, finally succumbed to chakra exhaustion.

* * *

Shino opened his eyes...and found himself back at Tazuna's house.

Naruto and Hinata were rather worried, and were thrilled to see him awake.

"How long have I been out?" he asked tiredly.

"Long enough for me to clear these two," said Anko cheerfully.

Shino stared. Zabusa and Haku were in Tazuna's kitchen, drinking tea.

Zabusa was looking better than he had before he passed out, and Haku was quietly reading a scroll that Hinata had brought with her. They seemed rather amused that he was finally awake.

A quick look at the calender revealed he had been out for nearly two days.

"I thought the Aburame clan died if they used too much chakra?" asked Zabusa.

"Haku-chan killed a good third of my hive, otherwise I might have," admitted Shino.

Several of his hive had died from the temperature drop. They weren't suited to freezing cold.

"This coming from the kid who holds three times the normal amount of insects?" said Naruto grinning.

The two Mist nin stared at him.

"I am...rather unusual, in my clan," said Shino bluntly.

Shino blinked, and realized something was off. Then he realized.

"Where are my sunglasses?" he asked.

Naruto handed them over, after he had cleaned them. He had wondered when Shino would ask that.

"I wasn't aware Konoha had so many people with jewel colored eyes," said Zabusa.

"They don't. This team has the few people who do," said Shino bluntly.

He really didn't like revealing his emerald green eyes to strangers. Even if very few ever saw an Aburame _without_ the traditional sunglasses and cloak.

* * *

A few days later, the bridge was finally finished...and they were ready to leave with two extra. Shino was rather amused to hear that the name was the Great Naruto Bridge.

Hinata, on the other hand, was rather amused at the fact that Shino was oblivious to Haku's stares. Once she realized that yes, Haku suffered a similar problem when it came to admitting her crush, they had struck up a fast friendship.

Both Naruto and Shino were unaware that they had somehow gained stalkers of the female variety. Kurenai and Anko thought it was hilarious. As did Zabusa, when Kurenai happened to point it out to the man.

* * *

"Sasuke."

"Aburame. Are you aware you have a fan girl?" he asked bored.

Shino turned, but he saw no one there. However his bugs weren't reacting, which meant it was someone familiar.

"Who?"

"I don't know who she is, but she's been following you for the past three blocks," said Sasuke. He was hyperaware of his surroundings in Konoha.

He had to be, with his large fan base going to practically any lengths to date/molest him. Outside of Konoha, he let his guard down.

"Can you describe her?"

"Long black hair and brown eyes. That's all I could see," said Sasuke.

Shino blinked, and realized that description fit the newest Chunin of the village.

Zabusa had headed back to the Mist village, once he heard about the new Mizukage. Since it was unlikely his apprentice would ever find peace in her home village, she had reluctantly stayed behind.

She was currently apprenticed to Anko, who was teaching her more ways to inflict damage with her senbon. Zabusa had been a fair teacher.

Haku had almost immediately been given the rank of chunin, after passing a relatively mild test by Iruka. Ever since then she had been taking on some of the more interesting C rank missions.

She had also been banned from capturing Tora after the cat was brought back paralyzed for four hours. (It had scratched her rather deeply, and she had used one of her senbon in retaliation. It survived but she was never allowed near it again.)

The only complaint Shino had was that he had the strangest tendency to run into her at odd moments. If he didn't know any better he would swear the girl was taking lessons from Hinata in stalking people.

(She was.)

"Have you heard about the Chunin Exams?" asked Shino.

"Where are they being held this year?"

"Konoha."

"Kakashi hasn't said anything, but after that nightmare mission in Swamp country I wouldn't be surprised."

"What happened?"

"The lazy bastard allowed Haruno to be hurt to prove a point. If our guide hadn't had the anti venom on hand, she would have died."

"Should I send my lightning bugs after him?"

"Send your fire bugs."

"I'll burn his masks then," said Shino.

Sasuke grinned. They had unsuccessfully tried to see under the mask before, but Kakashi always had another one on him.

* * *

"Alright brats, you three have been selected to go through the Chunin exams," announced Anko.

Shino looked at Naruto, and held out his hand. Naruto grumbled, but handed over a hundred ryo.

"Told you," he said simply.

"Yeah yeah," grumbled Naruto.

_Next up...to get Hinata to admit her crush on Naruto!_

* * *

Once Shibi learned his son was going to be in the upcoming Chunin exams, he discreetly began laying bets that Shino would make it to the finals.

Shibi had learned early on that if his son was participating in anything, he tended to come out on top.

Shino was at the gates when he saw them arrive. His father had heard rumors that the Kazekage's children would be participating this year, and had shown Shino what they looked like.

Temari, the oldest and only girl. Kankuro, the middle child and puppet user. And then there was Gaara, the youngest and most feared.

Why that was, Shino had no idea, but he intended to find out.

So he discreetly followed them, knowing full well Haku was always nearby. Once Sasuke had pointed it out to him, he realized she suffered from the same problem Hinata had around Naruto. He was just polite in ignoring that fact, though he usually struck up a conversation with the girl.

It was more than Naruto ever did outside of training.

Because he was following the Sand three, he was there to witness Kankuro start a fight with the Third's grandson Konohamaru.

Shino was quick to stop the punch.

"It's considered rude to start a fight in another village...and you must be particularly dense to try and harm the Hokage's grandson," said Shino calmly.

Kankuro went to bring out his puppet...until Shino brought out his rather small (but still rather effective) clan of termites. Kankuro blanched, and backed off.

It didn't hurt that the boy's boxers were abruptly turning to ice.

"I think he's learned his lesson, Haku-chan," said Shino.

"Are you sure? He looks even more dense than Naruto when it comes to girls. No offense Fox Boy," said Haku.

"None taken Ice Queen!" said Naruto with a grin.

Once it was clear that Haku was here to stay, Naruto took it upon himself to befriend the girl. As a result, the two often shared lighthearted insults. Naruto would call her Ice Queen and she called him Fox Boy.

Their relationship was almost like a brother and sister.

Shino's attention was quickly drawn to the silent and rather stoic red head.

"Is this yours?" he asked, gesturing to Kankuro.

"Unfortunately. I can tolerate my sister but I fear he is a lost cause," replied Gaara in the same bland tone.

"I would ask if you are new here, but I believe the Sand headband merely confirms that. Would you like to know where the best place to eat is?" asked Shino.

Naruto picked up at that, and grinned even more. Shino had recently stolen the wallets of several ANBU (he would give them to Anko later once he had used up their cash) so he could afford to take Naruto to Ichiraku's.

Gaara looked interested at the idea of someone offering to buy them lunch, so he accepted. His older siblings had little choice but to follow his lead.

As they walked, Shino held out his hand.

"Shino Aburame."

"Subaku no Gaara," said the red head, taking the hand. When Shino actually shook it without flinching, Gaara took it as a good sign.

Very few people were willing to associate with him. Especially if they knew about his Tanuki problem.

By the time they reached the stand, Gaara was actually comfortable talking with Shino. The boy was silent yes, but he made up for his lack of speech with his observation skills. When he offered to turn Kankuro's puppets into termite ridden pieces of wood, he realized he had actually made a friend in the boy.

* * *

_Later that night..._

Gaara never slept. He couldn't sleep unless he wanted the raccoon inside him to destroy everything.

So when the boy he had unexpectedly befriended appeared beside him with the loudmouth blond, he brought up his defense.

"Relax. I would no more attack you than I would Naruto. Unless he does something spectacularly stupid."

"Oi!"

"Why are you here?"

"To talk. I know of your problem Gaara of the Desert...and you are not as alone as you might believe."

Gaara stared at him in disbelief.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I bear the Nine Tailed Fox," said Naruto, holding out his hand.

"Sabaku no Gaara, I bear the One Tailed Tanuki known as Shukaku."

And with that, Gaara found himself with something he had never hoped to have.

Actual friends who wouldn't run away screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

Shino was having a bad day. It had started off with his wind jutsu blowing up in his face.

Shino had decent control in his fire attributes, excellent control in lightning...and piss poor control over wind. It was a miracle he even had wind attribute with his crappy control.

He sighed. He had a feeling wind jutsu would only backfire until he learned how to control the other two first.

Naruto bounded up to him, grinning like a fox.

"What did you do this time?" he asked tiredly.

"I got Gaara to use the Sexy jutsu on his brother. I've never seen someone turn that color before!"

"This coming from the only male brave enough to even think of using such a trick in front of girls like Sakura Haruno."

Naruto beamed at the compliment. Then an idea occurred to him, one that amused him greatly.

"Hey Shino, I wonder what _you _would look like as a..."

"No," he said flatly.

"Come on Shino! Just one try!"

Shino had a feeling he could probably pull it off, the only issue was what Haku or Hinata would do to him if they ever found out.

He didn't want to be sent back to the Aburame compound in a box.

Naruto, however, would not be dissuaded...and eventually he managed to blackmail Shino into it.

Anko happened to be nearby when she heard the pleading, and when she learned exactly what Naruto was bugging Shino about she helped him into it.

For some reason she had an outfit in Shino's size...and stylish sunglasses so he wouldn't go blind from the abundance of light.

(Shino had reluctantly explained to the woman that the insects inside him made his eyes very photosensitive. It was the reason why almost every Aburame wore sunglasses even indoors.)

"Fine, if it gets you off my case," he said annoyed.

Shino had seen Naruto use the trick often enough that he placed his hands in the Ram seal. He only prayed his mother never learned about this, she would kill him if Hinata or Haku didn't.

"Sexy Jutsu!"

Where Shino had been now stood a very attractive green eyed girl with long flowing hair and a very generous bust.

Anko cheered appreciatively.

"Will you drop this now?" he asked. It was really close to a whine.

"Hell no! You're going to stay like that for the rest of the day!" said Anko quickly.

Shino stared at her in horror.

"Think of it as undercover training!" she said amused.

At least she allowed him to put on the outfit and sunglasses. Shino left the training area resigned to the fact he was stuck looking like a girl for the rest of the day.

He had no idea of the looks he had inspired in the male population...

* * *

Since he was stuck as a girl, Shino took advantage to see what exactly the women's side of the hot springs looked like. It was there that he ran into the Pervert Sage Jiraiya.

Jiraiya had been peeking on the women when he saw her. A rather well built girl wearing stylish sunglasses even in the pool. That marked her as an Aburame.

The other girls gave her a wide berth, since it was clear she was from the rather disturbing clan.

Suddenly, her eyes met with his, and he could feel them narrowing in annoyance.

It was then that Jiraiya realized how doomed he was, as the largest hive he had ever seen in his life swarmed at him. What was really startling was the fact that the fireflies seemed to spark with actual lightning!

When the girls realized that they had been spied upon, they were quick to chase him out of the hot springs.

* * *

Jiraiya was bruised, cranky, and felt like a pin cushion. So when he saw the caused of his current predicament, he was understandably annoyed.

"You deserved everything you got, pervert," she said calmly.

"I'm not a pervert! I'm a Super Pervert!" he declared, without his Kabuki pose.

"Who are you anyway?"

"I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage!" he declared.

"And I am someone who regularly substitutes your trashy books with hardcore yaoi," she said flatly.

He looked rather horrified at the thought.

"You should hear the screams the Hokage lets off when he realizes I switch them," she continued amused.

Jiraiya took a closer look at the Aburame. Something seemed off about her. Then he realized what it was.

"Why are you under a henge?"

"I have an ongoing bet with my teammate and the crazy snake bitch of the T and I corps. I have to stay like this for an entire day," she replied annoyed.

(Shino had made it very clear he wouldn't stay like this for nothing. If he managed to stay a girl for an entire day and _not_ get caught by anyone who knew him well, then they owed him a big favor or fifty thousand ryo.)

"You know Anko?"

"She happens to be my sensei's roommate," Shino replied dryly.

Shino's sixth sense went off, and he vanished before Haku got a good look at him.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Shino was playing a game of hide and seek with Haku. Gaara, when informed of his bet, found the whole situation rather amusing.

Alas, the rather silent red head was on Haku's side, as he kept giving the girl directions.

When day turned to night, Shino thought his problem was over...until Anko informed him with some glee that he had to remain like that until noon the next day.

It was with great reluctance that he sent a message to his father about playing a training game with Anko, and being unable to return home.

Shibi was quite curious as to what kind of training game it was. Shino refused to tell him.

* * *

Shino arrived in Area 44, eager to end this ridiculous bet. Just in case Anko tried to get out of her end, he had the giant snakes running interference from anyone other than Naruto and Anko. He wouldn't put it past the crazed woman to pull a fast one and get out of the bet.

(It was a good thing too, because Anko tried to get Kurenai and Hinata to come with her. Upon seeing the snakes ready to eat them, they backed off rather quickly.)

Naruto was already there, grinning evilly.

"How was it being a girl all day?"

"Boring...though I did get to act out my aggression on a pervert outside the hot springs."

Anko finally arrived at that point, and gave him a look.

"What's this I hear about lightning bugs attacking a pervert in the hot springs?"

Shino glared at her.

"Like you should worry about that. Jiraiya is in town," he said annoyed.

Anko stopped looking annoyed and suddenly became pissed. She hated the Sannin, with the exception of Tsunade.

"Jiraiya has dared to show his mug back here?" she growled.

"I set my lightning bugs on him. I didn't know perverts could run that fast when chased by irate females."

Anko laughed.

"So it was you who alerted the off duty ANBU to his peeking. Well done! Though I do have to ask..."

"I saw him through the fence. What better way to test my skills at acting than to use the girl's side of the hot springs. It's not like I could spy on them anyway, since they quickly figured out I was an Aburame."

"True. Most people don't associate with your clan outside of a mission."

"Can I drop it now?" he asked.

"Fine. I'll pay you next time I take an S-class."

"Or I call in the favor first," grinned Shino.

* * *

"Where were you Shino?" asked his mother.

"Anko made a bet with me, and I couldn't return without losing," he said.

"What sort of bet?" asked his father.

"I couldn't let anyone recognized me while under Naruto's favorite henge trick. The one that Naruto loves to use on guys," Shino replied.

Shibi's eyebrows raised above his glasses. Shino was brave enough to use _that_ jutsu?

"You didn't..."

"I set my fireflies on a pervert in the women's bathhouse. What do you think?"

Shibi stared at his son. He dared to go in _there_?

"Jiraiya really shouldn't have been at the hot springs."

"You set your lightning bugs...on Jiraiya."

"He couldn't see through my henge."

"...Don't let your mother find out about you using that particular jutsu..."

"Father, do I look that suicidal to you?" Shino asked him, amused.

Shibi laughed quietly, and had his son describe the women's bathhouse to him.

* * *

Shino was in the scroll shop when he heard the oddest rumor.

An old man was popping in and out of shinobi villages looking for someone, and he appeared in the most unconventional method available. He apparently didn't have a passport.

From the way he was traveling, he would be in Konoha right before the Chunin exams started.

Shino didn't like the sound of that one bit.

* * *

Shino had already helped Naruto fill out his application, so the only thing left was to turn them in. It was Hinata who saw through the rather poorly done genjutsu.

"Wasn't that Izumo and Kotetsu from the front gate?" asked Shino.

"I think so..." said Hinata.

"Wonder why they were pranking the idiots?"

"I wonder if they got permission to leave the front gate. I thought they were on permanent Gate Duty," said Shino.

Once they entered the room, the killer intent was palpable. Shino spotted Gaara, and went up to the boy.

"Yo."

"Escape your stalker?" asked Gaara amused.

"No thanks to you," said Shino dryly.

"Hey Gaara!" said Naruto cheerfully.

Gaara's attention was drawn to Sasuke, who had just entered. Then his attention went to the rather violent pink haired girl by his side.

"Who is that?" he asked.

Shino looked at where he was staring, and winced.

"Damn. It's Haruno."

"You dislike the girl?" asked Gaara.

"She's rude, violent and has a tendency to screech at us. Dislike is a bit tame for how I fell about her."

Temari realized what was going on, and looked at him in disbelief. She never thought she would see the day her evil younger brother actually acted...well, like a normal fourteen year old!

And then Kiba had to act like an idiot.

"And here I thought you were the most unpredictable loudmouth. Kiba seems to be trying for your title Naruto," said Shino amused.

"I can't have that!" said Naruto annoyed.

Fortunately for Shino's hearing, Ibiki arrived. He allowed his gaze to wander the hall...and recognized someone. Why was Haku there? Wasn't she already a Chunin?

Everyone drew lots, and slowly Shino figured out the main point of this test.

They were testing their spying skills! Haku must have been drafted by either mistake or chance. Either way he had his target. Shino caught Naruto's gaze, and nodded towards Haku.

Naruto, after years of pranking people with Shino's help, had become somewhat adept at speaking without words with the boy.

They had to spy on Haku's paper to get through this. Fortunately, Naruto was also somewhat adept at reading from Shino's bugs.

Well, that and Shino had recently learned how to transmit messages with short electrical spurts using his fireflies. Luckily Naruto didn't mind the shock.

Fifteen minutes into the exam, and Naruto was already sweating. It was a very good thing Shino had taken time to teach him the ANBU morse code, because otherwise he never would have managed to get any of these answers!

Ibiki was giving the them an odd look, but he couldn't do anything because the only sign Naruto had that he was cheating was that his hair was standing up slightly more than usual.

Apparently Naruto wasn't the only one who was picking up Shino's answers, because a few Genin who had relatives in the ANBU squad were also picking up on the morse code. Shino had a bit of trouble keeping the code from creating a slight crack sound with each letter and number.

Haku pretended to be oblivious to the tiny firefly in her hair, though she knew it was there.

Thirty minutes into the exam, and over half the teams had been kicked out. Things were steadily slowing down when...

_**CRACK!**_

Everyone jumped, especially Shino.

Ibiki shot him a look, but he had a suspicion that the sound wasn't from the lightning user. Shino was far too subtle and his instant appearing trick had gotten quieter over the few months he had been practicing it.

But there was no mistaking that particular sound.

"Stay here!" he barked to the applicants.

* * *

There, near the hall, was a man who was definitely a civilian. No shinobi worth his salt would dress that colorfully. Even Gai, with his absolutely _horrifying_ fashion sense, had enough sense not to mix puke green, neon orange, bright pink and that shade of purple. Let alone wear a bathrobe like that.

The twinkle in his eyes was almost like the Hokage when informed of Naruto's pranks, but they were no where near as warm.

"Do you mind? We have an exam going on!" said Ibiki angrily.

"I am looking for a boy about thirteen with bright green eyes and a lightning scar above his right eye. I was informed that he might be found here."

_His accent is horrific._

"I don't know who you are talking about, but you're going to have to deal with the T and I corps for that little appearing act of yours," said Ibiki annoyed.

The old man tensed, but before he could do the rather loud disappearing trick, he was hit from behind with a pair of senbon.

"For once your timing isn't atrocious," said Ibiki amused.

"I thought the brat was making an escape attempt," Anko replied.

"His disappearing stunt has become much quieter, and he was busy helping the fox kid make it to the next round. Or flirting with the Ice girl."

Anko let out a bark of laughter. Shino was being subtle about his interest in Haku. At least he wasn't acting like, well, Kakashi or Jiraiya.

"I'll see you in the hall in ten minutes. Who knows, maybe I'll scare some of those genin and turn this day around," grumbled Ibiki.

"Ask the brat to shock someone you don't like. He's made Kakashi paranoid about fireflies of late," smirked Anko.

Ibiki perked up at that.

Ibiki returned to find the genin sweating. Well, most of them. Those he felt _would_ survive to the end were rather cool. The blond loudmouth was no longer freaking out, and from the looks the other examiners were giving Bug boy and Ice Queen, the two had decided to amuse themselves.

He was going to guess that the two had flirted a bit while he was gone. Meh, that wasn't his problem.

He made a show of looking at the clock, and inwardly smirked. It was time for the tenth question!

* * *

Haku was waiting for Shino at the Monument. While Ibiki had been dealing with whatever idiot used the same trick Shino sometimes used to get to team meetings on time (he only used it when Anko made it clear she wouldn't accept him being tardy like Kakashi) Shino had used the distraction to his advantage by subtly flirting with her.

A quartet of fireflies had settled across her paper, and spelled out a message. It took her a moment to figure out how to respond, but once she figured out a system, the two discussed things at length.

Eventually Shino became brave enough to ask her out on a date, and to meet at the Hokage monument at 8, above the Fourth Hokage relief.

She had arrived wearing her nicer kimono, and Shino arrived with a new jacket and glasses.

They spent the next three hours enjoying each other's company, ignoring the fact that Anko, Kurenai, Naruto and Shibi were all stalking them the entire time.

Haku had rewarded Shino's bravery with a kiss, and then winked at their escorts. Shino was never more thankful for the wide collars of the Aburame coats, because it hid his blush rather effectively.


	6. Chapter 6

_**WHOOT! Happy Birthday to me! Today I turn 24! Review plz!**_

* * *

Dumbledore awoke in a rather odd position. All he could remember was the sharp pain of something small hitting him near the neck, before oblivion took him.

But then his attention was brought to the rather attractive woman before him...and the fact that for some inexplicable reason he couldn't use his wandless magic.

"No tricks old man. I had the brat drain whatever power you used to infiltrate the village. You won't be leaving here until you answer some questions, and that's if I _like_ your answers," the woman purred.

Had the old man known who he was facing he would have blanched. The woman before him was the much deadlier equivalent of Severus Snape, the only person who knew where he was at the moment. At least the general area anyway.

For the next eight hours, Dumbledore suffered the rather disturbing interrogation methods of Anko Mitarashi, the Snake Bitch. It had taken him five minutes to realize he was dealing with a Slytherin-like person rather than the Ravenclaw or Gryffindor he was hoping for.

Anko was rather thorough, and to his horror he spilled exactly why he was in the village. Her eyes narrowed at the description, which was more than enough for him to learn he was finally in the right village.

Petunia Dursley had been less than forthcoming about where she left the Boy-who-lived, and her memories were less than reliable. He considered himself lucky to have recognized the Elemental Countries in the first place!

Finally, the woman left and he tried to reach for his magic. He was rather proud to be able to Apparate without his wand, which had been confiscated while he was out cold.

Finding out that he barely had enough magic in him to rate above Squib was a rather nasty surprise. Somehow they had drained nearly all of it...though he had no idea _how_.

* * *

"So what's the verdict?" asked Ibiki.

"He apparently came here to kidnap the Aburame heir, though I seriously doubt he knows what Shino looks like. All he had was a vague description of a boy about thirteen with emerald green eyes and a scar above the right eye."

"What makes you assume he's after Shino?" asked Inoichi.

"Shino Aburame is the only person in the village with emerald green eyes. The scar is easy enough to overlook, but eyes like those get noticed fairly quick," answered Anko.

"Unless you're an Aburame, in which case they would be behind glasses at all times," said Ibiki, nodding his head.

"Then there's that thunder trick he used to get in. Only the brat has ever used that until now."

"True. Why don't we send him to the Hokage so we can get rid of him sooner?" asked Ibiki.

"Best have the brat's bugs on him. Something tells me this guy is used to using whatever that weird power was to get his way."

* * *

Shino had a headache. It wasn't because Naruto was getting on his nerves, or because someone had been over loud.

It was because whatever he had drained from the old man had literally stirred up his nest inside his body. It was like his insects were on steroids or something.

The last time he had this problem, he had learned about the odd power he had inside him. It had taken three weeks of intense training to get the hive back to normal, and even then he was still a human vibrator for an entire week.

"Guys, we need to find someone insanely tough to beat within the next hour or my hive is going to give us away," Shino said suddenly.

The other two looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because my hive is so stirred up that they won't leave me alone unless they can work out this excess energy. You have no idea how much trouble they can cause when they are this hyped up."

"What kind of trouble?" asked Naruto, interested.

"Last time I didn't get rid of the excess, the small termite hive I had went ballistic and devoured four stores and a small section of the forest before finally dying off of overeating," Shino deadpanned.

The two stopped and looked at him. It was easy enough to read the expression they had. It was a total 'WTF' look.

"Yeah...Dad refused to let me replaced them when it was obvious I couldn't control them..."

"Just out of curiosity, what kind of bugs do you have on hand at the moment?" asked Naruto slowly.

"Mostly butterflies, moths, and fireflies. And nearly a hundred of those special healing bugs, but they're pretty dormant unless blood is present."

"Why butterflies?" asked Hinata.

"I like butterflies. Besides, people tend to be less creeped out around me if I use them instead of the moths," deadpanned Shino.

Hinata acknowledged his point. Girls were more likely to hang around if he used butterflies instead of the more creepy insects.

"Hey, didn't you Dad ban you from keeping any of the larger insects here?" asked Naruto, changing the topic.

Shino's look soured.

"Both of them did, even though it was pretty clear I could handle the chakra load, they said I wasn't allowed to keep any insects here because my body wouldn't be able to handle it."

His teammates laughed, because it was obvious Shino was still sulking about that.

Since it was clear Shino would be of little to no help without getting rid of his excess energy, they went in search of a stronger opponent.

And found it in the one person they really should have avoided.

* * *

To say Sasuke was surprised to see Shino and Naruto there to help him would be an understatement. Particularly since the Pink Banshee happened to be there too.

To make things even more confusing was the fact that the large snake (which had previously been aiming to eat him whole) had suddenly stopped and was looking at Shino with speculative eyes.

Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin, was more interested in him than he was in Shino...which was odd considering Shino had definitely said something to that snake. He would have thought that the Snake creep would jump at the chance to mark someone like Shino.

"So Anko _wasn't_ kidding when she said you'd never bother with an Aburame host..." said Shino amused.

Sasuke looked at him.

"Hah?"

"Apparently he can't stand bugs...and something about our bodies make it impossible for him to use us as hosts," clarified Shino.

"...Lucky bastard."

Shino smirked behind his collar.

"More like he's an unlucky bastard. My insects have been riled up, and the only way to calm them down is to go all out."

And with that statement, Sasuke finally noted the fact that Shino wasn't even on a branch.

He was literally flying on a cloud of what appeared to be black emperor butterflies.

Orochimaru was more concerned about the large wave of moths that were coming at him intent on devouring his clothes. He didn't even notice the other wave of flying insects coming at him. He dodged, and landed on a tree...which abruptly broke in half upon landing.

(Further investigation by Sasuke revealed the largest termite hive he had ever seen in his life, not counting that odd incident where the store he was in suddenly collapsed after he left it.)

"Imagine my surprise...when I found that my original termite hive that had gone ballistic a few years ago had survived, and was thriving here," said Shino amused.

Orochimaru wasn't as amused. He actually hissed at him, though it was more human than snake like.

Unlike Shino, Orochimaru _didn't_ have the ability to use snake speak. And he didn't immediately command respect from the snake summons. He only believed he did.

Which was probably the reason why what happened next shocked the traitor to his core.

Shino's hands flew into a familiar series of seals, and he bit his thumb to complete the contract.

_Summoning Jutsu: Snake!_

From beneath Shino came the largest snake Sasuke had ever seen. Though the look on Orochimaru's face was priceless.

Because Shino had no only turned his own summon beast against him...he had brought out the Boss snake himself!

"_So...you finally decided to use that contract she gave you. It's about time brat,"_ hissed Manda, amused.

"I had yet to meet someone who was worthy of a fight with you, Manda-sama," said Shino.

"_True."_

Manda shot out at Orochimaru, who was still in a bit of shock.

"Where did you get that contract?" he demanded.

"Anko introduced me to Manda-sama when I was eight. He took a liking to me," as if that explained everything.

Which, in a strange sense, it did. Anko had been rather thrilled that the only person in the village who was considered creepier than her had the requirements to summon snakes.

Shino just didn't like using it that much because he was a well known bug user, and snakes were more of Anko's thing than his.

(Plus the drain alone would kill him unless half his bugs were dead.)

With the arrival of Manda, the fight was decidedly one sided. Shino, however, did not want Anko to run into Orochimaru just yet. With a wave of his hand, he threw a branch at Orochimaru...who suddenly vanished half way to Wave.

(Yes, Shino made a port key without a clear destination. He can only do this with places he has been at least once.)

* * *

Since Sasuke, Kiba and Sakura were worn out, Shino had the brilliant idea to use up that excess energy (which, unfortunately, had yet to go away despite the fight with a Sannin) by healing their fellow shinobi.

Sakura originally didn't want the rather disgusting looking bugs on her, but when she saw Sasuke allowing them to crawl over his wounds, she reluctantly relented.

She was very shocked to find that her chakra was replenishing at a very fast rate.

"These bugs promote chakra growth, but right now I'm channeling whatever the hell I took from the old man who interrupted the first exam. For some reason it wouldn't translate into normal chakra," said Shino.

"Who was that old guy?" asked Sasuke. If these bugs were so useful, then why didn't more of the Aburame clan use them?

"I don't know, and frankly I don't care. All I know is that whatever the hell he has caused my hive to become hyped up. I _hate_ it when that happens."

"Why haven't I heard about these bugs before?" asked Sasuke.

"They take up at least four times the amount of chakra in a hive. Plus they're strictly an Aburame clan insect. Most of us don't even use them because they eat so much. I'm the only person in the clan who maintains more than ten in my hive."

"I have to ask...why butterflies?"

Shino looked amused. How Sasuke could tell, he had no idea.

"I like butterflies, so sue me. Besides, people are less likely to run screaming from them than they are from that termite hive."

"Why didn't the branch beneath us collapse like that snake creep?" asked Kiba, honestly confused.

Shino looked at him, his amusement even stronger. Naruto had finished bandaging the stab wound Sasuke had given himself. He could take it off in a day or two.

Hinata was busy helping Sakura get over her shaking.

"The termites that devoured that branch...used to belong to my hive. One day they went ballistic on me, and devoured four stores and a good portion of the forest before dying. I had assumed most had died off, but apparently the surviving portion went here."

"Wait...Those were _your_ termites that day? That store nearly collapsed on me!" said Sasuke annoyed.

"I dislike it when they get this worked up. I had no part in whatever caused them to destroy that store," Shino replied flatly.

"His dad told him he wasn't allowed to have anymore until he could find a way to prevent it from happening again," said Naruto with amusement clear on his face.

"He won't have a choice now. It's against our clan rules to leave any portion of your hive unchecked. Particularly if they happen to be destructive like termites," said Shino.

Sakura shivered. Bug boy was going to become creepier. Great.

"By the way...which scroll did you guys get?"

"Heaven. Why?" asked Sasuke with suspicion.

"Then you won't need this," said Shino.

In his hands was the scroll he had nicked from the Snake Sannin. How he got that when the man had swallowed it five minutes after challenging Sasuke's team, he didn't want to know.

"Which one did you guys get?" asked Kiba.

"Earth. How about in exchange for saving you from that snake creep, we keep this scroll?" said Shino casually.

"Done," said Sasuke.

* * *

"Gaara."

"Aburame, Uzumaki," said Gaara. He was somewhat amused.

"Have fun?" asked Shino.

"I killed people who annoyed me, what do you think?" he replied blandly.

"Village affiliation?" asked Shino.

"Rain."

"...I can live with that. Depressing bastards," said Shino cheerfully.

"How was your foray into the forest?" asked Gaara.

"Boring, until I kicked a Sannin out of the village. The larger predators know to avoid us by scent, and the snake usually hide us after a prank," said Shino amused.

Gaara's raised eyebrow spoke volumes.

"Apparently the Snake Sannin was in the forest posing as a genin. He was targeting the last Uchiha when I showed up. My hive was...a bit hyped up...so I attacked. His expression at my summon beast was particularly satisfying."

Gaara, for his part, actually squirmed a bit when Shino casually mentioned that particular Sannin.

Shino stared, and said "Anything I should know about?"

"Yes."

"But you can't tell me because it would possibly damage your chances of a real friend?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Hmm... Considering I had to deal with Orochimaru of all people, and from what Anko has said about her former mentor, I'm guessing it has something to do with destroying Konoha?" he said blandly.

Gaara said nothing, but his eyes said volumes.

"And I assume you or Mr. Fuzzy has something to do with it?" Shino continued.

Gaara smiled at the nickname Shino gave his tanuki problem. To be fair, Shino also called Naruto's fox spirit Mr. Cuddles. (The Kyuubi absolutely _hated_ that nickname.)

"Possibly."

"You would think a Sannin would come up with something more original," said Shino dryly.

"True."

"On the plus side, I found out that some of my hive had survived a particularly embarrassing incident," said Shino in a good mood.

"Do tell," said Gaara.

"About four years ago, my termite hive went absolutely nuts without warning, and devoured four stores and a good portion of the forest. I still have no idea why," said Shino blankly.

Gaara stared at him.

"Devoured?"

"Like I said, they went nuts. I had assumed they had all died from overeating, but I recently found them in the forest. Fortunately I was able to take control of them before anyone found out," said Shino amused.

"Why is that so amusing?" asked Gaara.

"Because my parents and clan absolutely forbade me from having another hive until I could prevent them from destroying stores like before," said Shino.

Gaara finally got the joke. By finding his previous hive, his clan would have no choice but to allow him to keep the insects.

"Now if only I could find a way to control this secondary power that got them so wound up in the first place. Meditation seems to help, but not much," complained Shino.

Gaara was rather silent, but then again he wouldn't know how to help his friend anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! As a present to you all, I am updated this fic just for you! And don't worry folks, the chances of me giving the Pink Banshee magic as are likely as Orochimaru becoming straight and no longer chasing little boys. Not gonna happen! :)**_

* * *

Shino was bored. And a bored Shino Aburame was a very, _very_ bad thing, as the ANBU could relate.

Which was why Iruka hid a shudder when Shino politely asked to weed out the competition before the second day was out. On one hand, they had already made it to the tower...but there weren't any rules that said they _had_ to remain in the tower once they retrieved the second scroll. They just had to be in the tower before the fifth day ended with their team.

He couldn't help but feel he had signed the death certificate of any team outside of Konoha.

(Which he pretty much did, since Naruto was currently busy playing poker with Gaara, Hinata and Temari. Naruto never played against Shino, because he was the reigning poker champ among the genin.)

Shino would return before the end of the fourth day, if he had any say in it.

His bugs were humming under his skin, but they were finally over whatever had them so worked up. He wasn't going to drain whatever that was again until he could find a proper outlet for it.

Since he was in a good mood, he went in search of the Sound trio. They had annoyed him when they attacked a Konoha shinobi with absolutely no regard to the consequence.

Plus the black haired boy had been entirely too loud for him to ignore him.

He found them in the one place he didn't expect. With Sasuke's team.

* * *

"Am I going to make a habit of this?" asked Shino blandly as his bugs drained the Sound trio's chakra.

"I thought you'd be at the tower by now," said Sasuke in surprise.

"My team is in the tower. But I got bored and Iruka said there wasn't anything in the rules about getting rid of the competition early," said Shino.

"...He does realize he just signed the death sentence for anyone outside of the Leaf, doesn't he?"

"His muttering lead to something of that affect, yes."

While they chatted, the Sound three found themselves on the wrong end of a bored Shino. The boy who had nailed Kabuto earlier found his weapon effectively plugged up with flies and termites (Shino was culling the weaker ones), while the girl was essentially in a genjutsu caused by the dust Anko had given Shino when she learned of his butterfly hive.

The lone male that was unaffected was currently trying to attack Shino, but his teleport trick was making that difficult at best. To his credit, Shino had finally gotten the hang of teleporting without the loud crack sound.

Finally, Shino decided to end his little game by taking out the girl. If they were out one team member, then they couldn't advance to the next round.

"Sasuke, I'll leave their Earth scroll to you. Have fun playing with them," said Shino cheerfully as his bug clone took the unconscious female.

The bandaged boy summed up their situation with a single word.

"Fuck."

* * *

Kinuko Tsuchi quickly realized how doomed she was. Not only had she been captured by a single genin, but she was effectively cut off from her team. To make matters worse, it was obvious the boy was at least a student of Orochimaru's former apprentice, which only spelled bad things for her.

On the bright side, she wouldn't have to listen to Zaku's whining again.

"Now normally I would drain your chakra and leave you to die, but since I'm not really in the mood for that, I've decided to let Haku have some fun instead. Haku-chan?" said the boy casually.

"She's the one you want me to convert?" asked a decidedly feminine voice.

"She belongs to Orochimaru, who sad to say, is more messed up than Zabusa ever could be."

"Ah, I see your point. Shall we get to work then?"

"Just as long as I get back to the tower a day before the exam ends," said the boy bluntly.

"My dear Shino, whatever makes you think I would dare allow you to fail because of that?" purred Haku.

"That tone of voice sure as hell isn't helping," he said flatly.

Haku laughed, and Kinuko decided she rather liked the chime of it, despite how screwed she was. The boy's voice wasn't that bad either, rather melodic as it was calm.

Then they turned their attention to her, and she winced. This would not end well.

* * *

Shino reappeared at the tower almost at midnight of the fourth day. Still within his deadline, but even he knew he was cutting it close.

Kin Tsuchi had been surprisingly easy to convert to the Leaf, once they made it clear that unlike Orochimaru, they didn't make it a practice to harm their students to get them to do what they wanted. Though to be blunt, catching Tora almost every other day was a form of torture in itself.

Once Haku insured that Kin wouldn't try to double cross them (apparently the other girl had been lacking in simple kindness and compassion for years) she took the girl with her to see the Hokage.

As it was, Haku was going to deliver a report about Orochimaru's rather...intense...interest in the Uchiha heir. And the fact that Shino managed to get him far enough from the village to prevent the snake from marking Sasuke.

"Yo Shino! Have fun?"

"I may have converted an enemy into an ally," said Shino blankly.

"Haven't you done that already?" asked Hinata, nodding to Gaara and his team.

"Ah, but now I have a better idea of what he wanted to tell me but couldn't," answered Shino.

"So who did you get?"

"Sound girl. Something tells me we're going to have a lot of fun when word gets out she's joined the dark side of the Konoha genin," said Shino with restrained glee.

"Dark side of the Konoha genin?" asked Hinata.

"Hinata, who is our secondary teacher?"

"Anko."

"And what do Naruto and I do whenever we're really bored or in a very bad mood?"

"Prank the ANBU or any available upper level shinobi."

"And what is our team's other specialty?"

"Stalking... I see your point."

"I will help whip Naruto into shape if you do one thing during this part of the exam," said Shino.

"What?"

Shino whispered it into her ear, and she turned bright red.

"Do you have any idea what my father would do if I did that? Especially in public?" she complained.

"What do you think I would do to him and the Elders if they tried to retaliate because of who you happen to like?" he asked in return.

Hinata thought about that for a moment. With the discovery of the termite hive, it was extremely likely Shino would bring the Hyuga compound crashing down on their ears. It was well known that after the...ahem, Incident when he was eight, that he had been banned from having them in his hive.

So they would be hard pressed to blame him.

"...Fine, but once I nab him we are so double dating!" said Hinata firmly.

"Deal. Though from the looks that Sound girl was giving me and Haku, I have a sneaking suspicion it would be a triple date," said Shino dryly.

Hinata grinned at him, and he was very thankful that the collar covered his blush.

"Right, since it isn't well known she's alive, why not help me spread a few false rumors about her being killed by one of the tigers? It's not like anyone would dare try and confirm it," said Shino.

Hinata smirked, and they set to it.

Kabuto seemed to be the only person who was upset by that news, though he barely managed to hide it.

(To be fair, it was hard to hide something like that from an Aburame, who prided themselves on being extremely hard to read in general. As a result, they tended to pick up on hidden emotions better than most.)

Shino, when he noted that reaction, became suspicious. Kinuko had mentioned a traitor in the Leaf village, and something told him he had found him.

He wasn't really surprised to see Sasuke's group in the tower. After all, he had insured they would make it to the next round, provided they avoided the tigers and snakes in the forest.

* * *

_Day five..._

Shino was bored, but he stayed put. He didn't want to get kicked out because he went outside. Fortunately, Haku had arrived earlier bearing some scrolls to read.

Particularly one from the Hokage that looked like a regular training scroll on the outside.

_'To: Aburame Shino_

_Thanks in part to your report, I am glad to inform you that Kinuko Tsuchi has officially defected to the Leaf, and is currently taking up the last spare bedroom in Anko's house. Anko has already cleared her to stay._

_Also, there has been some developments concerning that secondary power you have. It will be discussed in length once this phase of the exam is over, as you'll have time to decide on what to do with that power.'_

Shino blinked. So they had finally found information on that odd power? It was about time!

Haku cheerfully gave him a peck on the check, as she whispered "I don't mind having someone else join in on our 'play' time."

"...Why do I suddenly get the feeling that by the time I'm a Jounin I'll have created a powerful harem?" he asked.

"Because you're that good?" replied Haku.

"...Point. Plus we're going to have fun if the Hyuga elders complain about Hinata's choice in boyfriends."

"You convinced her to make a move?"

"More along the lines of assuring her that the Hyuga clan won't have squat to say about her choices."

"This have anything to do with that discovery you made earlier?"

"Possibly, but don't ruin my fun. You get to take a picture of my parents faces when I inform them of the matter."

Haku was positively happy with that thought.

Shino was planning on introducing her to his family as soon as this part of the exam was over. He had little doubt she would make a good impression on his parents.

Plus the fact that she had a Kekkei Genkai would really go over well with the Clan heads. She was new blood after all.

* * *

Shino was a bit annoyed to find out that he had to fight during this round. Kabuto's actions once he learned about the tournament only raised more flags about him being the traitor. If he was...

Well, Anko might find a pressing need to bring him into the T and I department. She already liked him well enough. Now all he had to do was make it to the next round.

He watched calmly as the weaker genin were weeded out rather early.

It appeared that mostly the Rookie Nine would survive to reach the finaly stage.

As it was, his father had already assured him that any winnings made based on his advancement would be split sixty-forty. Shibi didn't mind sharing a small part of his winnings with his son, who was doing all the work.

Finally, Shino's name was up. He was rather pleased to note that his opponent was the rather annoying Neji. A boy who had frowned rather deeply when Hinata had finally made her move on Naruto during her fight.

(Due to Naruto's encouraging shouts, she had already beaten her opponent, who happened to be Kankuro.)

Shino decided to make his point to the Hyuga now, rather than waiting. He teleported to the floor, and waited patiently for the match to start.

"I hope you do not think of ill of me for defeating you. Fate has already determined the winner of this match," said Neji confidently.

"Neji...needs some new lines. And I don't believe in fate," said Shino firmly.

He didn't believe in destiny either. He was a firm believer of carving your own path, thank you very much. If someone like Naruto, who was looked down upon by most of the village, could hook the Hyuga heir, then who was to say that he couldn't be Hokage as well?

Neji got into the Gentle Fist stance, and Shino smirked behind his collar. He was going to have a great deal of fun with this one.

* * *

"Oh dear... Neji sure drew the short end of the senbon," said Naruto from above.

"What makes you say that Naruto?" asked Sasuke.

"Shino's got his _'I am going to humiliate someone in a very public and unpleasant way'_ vibe going on. Neji is screwed," said Naruto sagely.

"I still don't know how you can read him," complained Sakura.

"Easy. We're best friends. Anyone who frequents his house learns to read the vibe they give off pretty quick," said Naruto amused.

"...Actually he has a point. Shino _is_ giving off an odd vibe at the moment," admitted Sasuke.

"Look, he's started playing with him!" said Naruto.

* * *

Naruto was right. It was very obvious to everyone that Shino was playing with Neji...who was acting like he was high as a kite. Something in the dust his butterfly hive was spreading around evidently caused Neji to see pretty, pretty colors.

Hinata found it all rather hilarious, because she was having difficulty trying not to laugh.

Eventually Shino grew tired of his toy, as he sent his moths in to finish Neji off.

"Consume!"

By the time Neji came around, he was horrified to realize his...(ahem) shortcomings...we exposed to the entire audience. Hinata at least took Naruto's queue to look away before she was exposed to the sight.

"EEP!"

Neji was rather quick to forfeit after that.

"Winner, Shino Aburame."

Shino used his butterfly hive to fly him back up to his teammates, who were crowing about his prank.

"Hinata, I want you to spread the word to your clan that if I hear about them targeting you, I will perform a repeat of what I just did to Neji. Only I will make it in public," said Shino.

"Thank you Shino," she said, grateful.

"Friends protect each other, particularly when they are on the same team," said Shino calmly.

Hinata beamed at him.

* * *

Naruto, it seemed, had lucked out. His opponent was Kiba.

Unfortunately for Kiba, Naruto had been introduced to certain powders and oils that reeked to high heaven courtesy of Anko. Powder and oils he would happily use on Kiba and Akamaru.

"AUGH!" cried Kiba, his nose fighting him every time he got close to Naruto.

Naruto had already plugged up his rather strong sense of smell by having Hinata use her Gentle Fist the minute he found out who his opponent was. Thankfully it was a temporary fix.

Akamaru was downright whimpering from the smell.

What could possibly cause such a reaction from the two? Somehow, someway, Anko had found a way to bottle up the smell of skunk.

A smell that Naruto all too happily threw on his opponents, to their horror.

Within minutes Naruto was declared the winner, and Kiba had to be carried off by a rather unhappy pair of medic nin.

Finally, the pairings were decided.

Shino VS Temari

Naruto VS Gaara

Hinata VS Ino

Sasuke VS Lee

How Ino had beaten Sakura was rather amusing. Even if she had an Inner Sakura, the girl had no teammates to back her up. It was so depressing to learn that, that Sakura had admitted defeat.

It didn't help that Hinata and Naruto were cheering Ino on, instead of them both.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" asked Shino. Sitting on one of the chairs was the old man Anko had him drain of that odd power. The one that sent his hive into a frenzy.

"Ah, come on in Shino-kun. I was just telling Dumbledore-san what a bad idea it was to try and infiltrate a Hidden Village with the intent to kidnap one of their genin," said the Hokage pleasantly.

Seeing the old man wince, it wasn't hard to figure out that the Hokage was more than annoyed.

"And why was I summoned, Hokage-sama?" asked Shino, honestly curious.

(Behind him was Anko and Haku, both ready to take the old man out if he tried anything.)

Sarutobi nodded to Dumbledore, who launched into his tale of the boy-who-lived, who had gone missing twelve years ago. Apparently it looked bad that he had allowed the woman who was supposedly the boy's aunt to leave him on the doorstep in a Hidden Village, without even a by your leave.

When Shino asked why he was so desperate to find one boy, who was probably either dead or living his life, Dumbledore explained about a prophecy...which is where Shino stopped him.

"Old man, you are barking up the wrong tree. It is extremely foolish to base an entire community's hopes on some convoluted prophecy, particularly when the chosen savior is picked at random. For all you know this...Voldemort...character chose the wrong child."

Dumbledore shook his head.

"The prophecy was clear. Voldemort would attack people who had defied him three times and mark their child as his equal. A child born at the end of July."

"And how exactly would he mark this kid?" asked Anko, not amused.

"The child he went after has a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, right above his right eye. He also has emerald green eyes from his mother, and messy raven black hair from his father. In all likelihood, the boy would be a natural prankster."

Anko and Haku made a point not to look at Shino when he said emerald eyes.

"And why exactly, did you wait all this time to go looking for him?" asked Shino rather annoyed.

Dumbledore coughed nervously.

"The school I run doesn't allow children under eleven to join. He was supposed to be safely tucked away at his aunt's until that time," he said.

Shino stared at him, then looked at the Hokage with suspicion.

"And what, exactly, does all this have to do with me?"

"Because according to Dumbledore, that ability you use to teleport with such a loud noise is called Apparition. Which means you, Shino Aburame...have magic."

Shino couldn't help but feel his month had suddenly become pear shaped.


	8. Chapter 8

Shino found himself wandering the village. Finding out that he was apparently a child of prophecy with a power called magic had been a lot to take in. Even if the old man had no idea that he was the missing boy-who-lived.

He eventually ended up near the village gates.

Because he happened to be there at that time, he was witness to the strangest sight.

A man wearing pure black robes (which wasn't really practical considering Fire country was a somewhat tropical climate, and snow is only hinted at during winter) was at the gates. He looked like he would rather be anywhere else, but was forced to come to Konoha on business.

Izumo and Kotetsu were arguing over his papers, which were somewhat out of date.

"Can I help you sir?" asked Shino. Perhaps this would afford the distraction he needed to clear his head.

"I was sent here to retrieve someone, but I don't have any current papers for this...country," he answered in stiff, but passable Japanese. His accent was odd, but it wasn't that bad.

"Who were you sent to retrieve?" asked Shino.

The man looked cross about something as he replied "An old man with absolutely no fashion sense and the misguided belief that everything he does is for the greater good."

_On second thought, this might make my migraine worse, not better,_ thought Shino bitterly.

"Would this old man go by the name of Dumbledore? Because he's in some hot water for entering the village and planning to kidnap one of the genin here," said Shino.

The sour look darkened.

"That's probably him."

"You'll have to wait while I get Anko then. Otherwise they won't let you in without a current passport," Shino informed him helpfully.

The sour look softened, but not by much. Shino accepted that small victory.

It was pretty obvious that he had only been sent because he could speak the language.

* * *

Anko wasn't happy to have her dango time interrupted, though she at least accepted his reasoning. Having the second in command of the Torture and Interrogation Unit escorting a stranger with out of date passports would keep him from causing trouble...like the old geezer who was currently under strict watch.

Severus Snape, as it turned out, was a male version of the snarky Anko. He even shared her love of dango, which really shocked Shino.

It didn't take long for the awkward silence to pull out the real reason Snape was there.

He was Dumbledore's backup plan if he didn't return before a certain date. Mostly because he was the only person who had ever been in the Elemental countries before, if only for a vacation.

For some odd reason, the man's familiar couldn't find him. Shino had a sneaking suspicion it was because he had drained all of Dumbledore's magic from the man, and it would take a while for him to recover.

(Which was true. Fawkes couldn't find anyone with magic levels as low as a Squib unless introduced to their magical signature more than once.)

Eventually Anko loosened up, having already determined that Snape wasn't a danger to the village. He was just cranky from having to retrieve his boss, who should have known better in the first place!

* * *

"Ah, Severus! How nice of you to finally show up," said Dumbledore with false cheer. Inside, however, he was more than annoyed it took him this long.

"I told you before you left that coming here unannounced was a bad idea. Is it _my_ fault you didn't listen to my advice?" he replied bluntly.

He had in fact, warned Dumbledore that going to a ninja village without the right paperwork was extremely stupid. Dumbledore foolishly had assumed he would be in and out of the Elemental Countries with his pawn in tow before it became an issue.

Sadly, he never counted on their reflexes being many times greater than his. Or throwing him into their Interrogation Division with someone as crazy as Anko on a sugar high.

Though to be fair they could have done much worse to someone attempting to kidnap a Clan Heir.

They could have set a _Hyper, Caffeinated_ Naruto on him.

(And yes, those two words needed to be capitalized.)

* * *

While Dumbledore was pretty much kicked out of the Elemental Countries (and essentially banned from Konoha until further notice) Snape opted to take his long overdue sabbatical.

This was mostly due in part to Anko, who he was rather delighted to learn shared several interests.

**(I/E poisons, snakes, torturing random students until they whimper for mercy...)**

Shino and Naruto shivered at how alike they were.

"So you finally found out what that secondary power is?" asked Shibi.

"According to Snape-san, it's called magic. And from what he has been able to tell, I have quite a bit of it waiting to be used."

"What about that old man who came here? Dumble-something?"

Shino's look soured.

"Dumbledore. He apparently came here to kidnap me, but since he only had a vague description he couldn't find me. It didn't help that the identifying markers he used were covered up."

"Eyes and scar. He should have used more than that."

"Scars are an occupational hazard when one is a shinobi. And the one he was looking for is usually covered over by a headband at the very least," said Shino dryly.

"So what now?" asked Naruto.

"Well, Snape has opted to wait until next year before returning, and chances are very high that more people from the Outside will come to Konoha for me. The only difference is that they won't try to kidnap me like the old man," said Shino.

"Who?" asked Haku. She was rather...protective...of her boyfriend.

"Adoptive uncles. One couldn't adopt me because of politics and the other was framed. It doesn't hurt that while his papers are out of date, he is more than willing to share poison recipes with the ANBU," said Shino.

That, more than anything, had spared Snape from dealing with the T and I corps. Plus there was an open offer to become a citizen if he ever wanted.

While the days whittled down to the final part of the Chunin Exam, Shino found a rather interesting problem awaiting him. And his name was Jiraiya.

Shino had some interest in sealing, but Jiraiya was still miffed about the Hot Spring incident. So he tried another tactic.

He had Naruto ask him. Shino was one of the rare people who had figured out why Naruto resembled the Fourth Hokage so much, but had been banned (by the Hokage himself) from telling Naruto. Even after the boy learned that he was the container for the Nine Tailed Fox, he still had no clue who his parents were.

Which really didn't sit too well with Shino.

Eventually, after a week of pestering him, Jiraiya agreed to teach Shino a bit about sealing.

Only when he wasn't training Naruto to use the Kyuubi's chakra of course.

* * *

Shino was trying not to run for his life when his mother had announced what their Saturday movie night would be. Of all the lame romances his mother loved, Shino loathed _Twilight_ the most.

He had actually read the books, just to see what the hype was about. And after giving the series to Haku, he had hated it. Especially _Breaking Dawn._

Naruto had heard his complaints about the series more than once. *****The fight scenes were half assed, and the entire series was based on the hit and miss dating of two stalkers, one of which turned vampires into complete wimps. Only the werewolves acted like the creatures they were.

It was revolting.

Shino wasn't the only person to think so either. A good portion of the male shinobi population (Sasuke and Shino spearheading the genins) thought the series was boring.

Alas, the kunoichi populations kept the books on the shelves...mostly in retaliation to the _Icha Icha_ series. If Shino believed that getting rid of Jiraiya and his porn books would get rid of the _Twilight _saga, he would have killed him and burned the books in a heartbeat. Sasuke would help.

Anko, on the other hand, had won the contest the kunoichi had for the most creative use of the audio books.

She used it to torture the straight males who came through the T and I division on charges. Within a few hours of listening to that, they were singing like canaries.

Snape included.

"Mother, do we really have to watch _that_?" asked Shino in a whine.

She gave him a look, and he withheld his whimper. She had every single movie, except the new _Breaking Dawn_...and she was forcing them to have a movie marathon.

Shibi was partially to blame for this torture, as he had forced her to watch all six _Star Wars_ movies in a row. Shino always choose the Princess Fuyuki movies, which Naruto loved.

If he had to watch _Twlight _for the next six hours, Shino would make his father pay. If Shibi attempted to fall asleep, Shino would kick him or have his girlfriend poke him with a senbon.

If he had to suffer through this, Shibi had to suffer. Haku was rather enjoying the movie, while Naruto had lucked out and was drafted into training with Jiraiya for the next seven and a half hours.

Shino would have his revenge on Naruto soon enough for abandoning him to the _Twilight_ movie marathon.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Shino was quick to go answer it. Shibi shot his son a betrayed look. He hated _Twilight_ too.

"Yes?" Shino asked, trying to hide the relief in his voice. Anything to get away from that torture.

The man before him was tawny haired and rather tired looking. Shino's bugs seemed confused about whether he was a man or a wolf.

Shino took a gamble and guessed that this was Remus Lupin based on the description Snape had given him.

"Excuse me, but is this the Aburame compound?" he asked tiredly.

"Are you Remus Lupin?" he asked in return.

"How did you...?"

"Snape was very good at describing you during his rants about the Marauders," Shino answered bluntly. Remus winced.

"So Snape is here. Dumbledore was bitching about that for the past week," said Remus nervously.

"Just out of curiosity, have you been cleared to enter the village yet?"

"By cleared you mean...?"

A tiny ray of hope began to bloom in him. Here was a chance to rescue his father from the hellish movie marathon without angering his mother.

"Hold on a minute."

Shino quickly went back in, and while the movie was paused, explained why he needed his father to come with him. His mother frowned, but even she had to admit it would look better for the civilian if a Clan Head decided to stick up for his presence.

Shino then did something that had Haku glaring at him. He threw her to his mother and said they could spend the time uninterrupted and get to know each other better.

Haku gave him a look and mouthed 'You are so dead!'

He would live with the aftermath later.

"You do realize she's going to kill you for that," said Shibi amused.

"I'll learn to live with the payback. I would have to deal with an angry girlfriend sooner or later," Shino pointed out.

Remus coughed behind them, and Shino shot him a look.

"Something the matter?"

"Fire country is a bit warmer than I'm used to."

Shino shrugged.

"I should thank you. You just rescued us from seven hours of absolute torture."

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"My wife was forcing us to watch all three of the _Twilight_ movies that were out," Shibi clarified.

Remus seemed surprised.

"They weren't that bad. A bit too much teenage angst, but I thought they were decent enough."

Shibi and Shino stopped cold and looked at him in absolute disbelief. Shino was the first to ask what running through their heads at that moment.

"You aren't by any chance gay are you?"

Remus sputtered.

"I'm not gay!"

"Then why for the love of Inari, did you say that you actually _like _that awful series, within the village?" asked Shino.

"What's so bad about it?"

"It's a romance novel about teenage stalkers and wimpy vampires. The only ones that were actually _worth_ noting were Jasper and Alice," said Shino bluntly.

Remus choked.

"As it stands, Haku and I are firmly Team Jacob," continued Shino.

"As am I. He was the only one that actually made sense, though that bit about him falling for the damphir was a bit tacky," said Shibi.

"So where are we going?"

"To see Anko. Talk to her for an hour and you get unrestricted access to the public places, and you won't have an ANBU following you every where you go," said Shino.

_This is becoming a habit. Perhaps we should make a sign for people to see Anko immediately if coming from the Outside?_

"So why is _Twilight_ so universally hated here?" asked Remus, breaking the silence.

"It's not hated so much as avoided utterly and completely by every straight male within a fifty kilometer radius of the village. Only the girls like it, and even then the guys avoid people who like the main characters. They generally turn out to be stalkers anyway," said Shibi bluntly.

"Well, with the exception of Hinata I think. She likes it well enough, but I'm trying to convert her to the more sane _Icha Icha_ series."

"You do realize that if you ever succeeded in that her father would kill you."

"Who said it was for her? I'm hoping to see her tackle Naruto into a snogging session," said Shino deadpan.

"I admit no knowledge of those books you have on your shelf, and frankly I'm amazed your mother hasn't seen through that genjutsu on them," said Shibi.

"Signed copies, and I only read them while bored. At least I don't act like Kakashi, displaying them in public."

"...What is _Icha Icha_?" asked Remus. He had found their conversation rather amusing and comforting.

He could tell by the boy's scent that it was his pup, though it was rather muted by the scent of bugs and lightning. It was somewhat comforting to know that his pup had been accepted in what appeared to be a military village and had a family who clearly loved him more than Petunia ever would have.

He honestly didn't care that Shino was training to be a mercenary. As long as he was happy, healthy and not being abused in any way he could live with that. Sirius could too, if he hadn't betrayed them.

Remus spent an hour with what appeared to be a female Snape (only slightly crazier) and was cleared to stay in the village. Normally he wouldn't have had to deal with Anko, but the fact was that he had been in contact with Dumbledore recently and they wanted to make sure he didn't cause problems.

Paranoid, but not to extremes.

* * *

"Huh... So this old guy knew your birth parents?" asked Naruto. Shino was treating them to ramen, courtesy of an ANBU who should have kept his mouth shut about Naruto.

Even now, there were people who looked down on him for no reason other than what he contained.

"I'm not that old," protested Remus. He was one booth over. He had mostly gone to Ichiraku because Shino had recommended their ramen to him, and he was curious.

Naruto was more interested in Remus than training, so they moved over to join him. He seemed rather happy for the company.

While they were eating (Remus seemed somewhat shocked at the sheer amount Naruto was able to eat) Shino carefully broached the subject about magic.

Remus was more than happy to discuss it, though he was careful not to talk about the school unless asked. Shino was rather fascinated with magic in general, since he had limited success actually _using_ it. Hand signs were, sad to say, almost useless when it came to magic.

About the only thing Shino had really be able to do with his was the silent teleport, which Remus identified as Apparition. He was rather interested in Shino's way, because it wasn't nearly as loud.

Naruto followed as best he could, but he was eager to see what Remus called magic.

So Remus turned the boys hair a bright neon orange. Naruto, when he realized the change grinned like the fox container he was.

"Cool! Can I see that stick you used?" he practically begged.

"It's a wand. And only if you don't break it."

Remus handed his wand over, and was very startled to see orange sparks come out the end.

"What was that?" asked Shino.

"...It would seem your brother has magic as well. I wasn't expecting that."

"I wonder who else in the village has magic?" asked Shino.

"Good question," said Naruto.

* * *

***_This is my person opinion of the series. I really hated that _Breaking Dawn_ built up that fight scene and then wimped out. Total let down._**

_**Alright folks, I have a question for you. What should Shino's animagi form be? I'm stuck on this, and I'm tempted to either make him a butterfly, a cat, or worse Mothra. I have absolutely no idea what to make him, so it's up to you, the readers to decide.**_

_**The unofficial poll will end after Shino reaches Hogwarts. And don't worry, he's only staying for a year.**_


	9. Chapter 9

As it turned out, at least five others had magic.

Hinata, Haku, Sasuke, Anko, and Kakashi all had more than a small spark of the stuff. Shino was thanking every deity he knew that Haruno wasn't among those with magic.

Shino really didn't want to go to Hogwarts. The village could easily hire tutors and create a secondary Academy for those with magic.

Which was what the Hokage and Shibi were going to bring up during the next clan meeting. Chances were very good that the council would either create a new Academy or add to existing classes.

Shino worked with Remus and Snape to develop the magic he could already access. Snape had a good idea where to start.

Remus had absolutely no idea that Snape was a Wind Elementalist.

* * *

Shino was unamused by the fact that Sasuke was late. Then again, he was probably still with Kakashi, the Man of a Thousand Excuses. Shino had spent some time under Kakashi once his element was discovered, but had developed the unique use of his Spark Fly technique on his own.

Kakashi was still cursing about that.

Shino waited until the tournament began, and then prepared to fight Temari. Since working with Snape for two weeks (the man was a hard task master like Anko, who was very pleased that Shino never once complained about how hard he was pushing him) Shino had finally figured out why he had gotten a response for the wind chakra.

It wasn't because he was a Wind user like Naruto. It was because he was a Wind _elemental_. His magic worked naturally around winds, which was why the paper had been shredded.

It also explained why any wind technique he used blew up in his face. His chakra nature was fire and lightning.

Temari wasn't too happy to be facing the bug boy. The second the battle started, she took to the air.

Shino grinned under his collar. Time to put his new magic trick to the test!

Using a variation of the wind disk Naruto loved to use (he had figured out how to make it move, and used it to zoom around the village at high speeds to the annoyance of the ANBU) Shino took to the skies.

Shino couldn't maintain one large disk, so he settled for two small ones directly under his feet.

Temari's eyebrows rose, impressed.

Soon it deteriorated into a game of cat and mouse, with Temari avoiding every wave of bug sent at her. It didn't help that a majority of Shino's hive had wings.

Shino had her in the crosshairs. His moths were about to strike, using the powders he had coated on their wings.

Temari was sneezing, big time, but she refused to let Shino beat her. Eventually the allergies she didn't realize she had made themselves known, and she forfeited while she could still breathe.

She was taken directly to the Medic Nin to get some medicine.

(She wouldn't stop sneezing for a good fifteen minutes, and even then she had to get medication.)

* * *

The Hokage had pushed Naruto's match to the end, because he knew the boy very well. He was a bit...enthusiastic with his jutsu.

Hinata beat Ino by combining her newly discovered magic with the Gentle Fist, Sasuke nearly got disqualified by arriving far too late but ended up beating Lee after stealing a good majority of his tricks, and everyone was awaiting Naruto and Gaara's match. Shino passed the time by talking to Naruto.

"There's something that's been bugging me. How did this aunt of yours get into the village and leave without an infant?"

"Actually, I've wondered that myself. You would think that after the Kyuubi attack, the village sentries would be more observant for the next five years. According to the logs, she entered under the guise of visiting her cousin, and left within a few hours. I suppose they assumed she left the infant with the cousin or something," said Shino.

He had checked, after finally getting a name for the person who had abandoned him.

What Shino wanted to know was why this Petunia Dursley was going to a woman named Kushina.

He was going to ask the Hokage for a blood test once this test was over with. The woman's last name had been Uzamaki.

* * *

Gaara was not in a good mood. On one hand, he was somewhat loyal to his village.

On the other hand, he had actually made friends that wouldn't abandon him in a village he was ordered to destroy.

He didn't know _why_ his father decided to join up with a village that was relatively new. Something was off about that.

If his father really wanted to improve village relations, he should have signed a peace treaty with the Leaf or Mist. The Sound village was so new that very few people had even _heard _of them, let alone trusted them to get the job done right.

And then there was the way his father had been acting for the past few weeks. Something was very off about him.

Unfortunately, unless he could prove it, he still had to go on with the plan. Shino and Naruto at least had kept him company during the night, when they were taking a few hours off of training. They had made the lack of sleep much more bearable.

* * *

Naruto started off with a bang, and Gaara didn't even have to sweat to keep up with him.

It wasn't until Naruto used the same teleport trick Shino had learned that things grew nasty. Naruto had yet to figure out how to do it silently, but that really didn't matter too much.

It got him past Gaara's Ultimate Defense long enough to land a solid blow.

Startled by the sudden contact, Gaara felt something wet coming from his nose. Touching it, he was absolutely shocked to see the same shade of red as his hair coming from his nose.

He was...bleeding?

Unable to comprehend such an occurrence, Gaara's mind snapped. His perfect defense enveloped him, and he began to lose control of Shukaku.

This set off a chain reaction in the stands.

The Kazekage's hands slipped into the seal of the Ram, and feathers descended into the seats. Only those who could recognize a genjutsu escaped.

Shino was the only one to notice one of the ANBU acting oddly. So it was only natural that he reacted accordingly.

* * *

Kabuto really wasn't expecting someone to see through his disguise so quickly. Especially when that someone had one of the creepiest attacks he had ever seen.

He dodged the wave of insects Shino sent at him, inwardly sweating. It was pretty obvious to him what Shino planned to do.

He was going to drain his chakra and help the Hokage, who was currently stuck under the barrier.

Suddenly one of the beetles latched onto his skin, and he could feel his chakra being drained.

He tried to crush it, only to see Shino coming at him with Kakashi's signature technique.

He honestly didn't know that Shino had learned that particular trick. He had thought the current animosity towards the Aburame heir would have kept Kakashi from showing him.

(Actually, Shino had seen Sasuke practice with it without either of them knowing, and once he had the basic gist of the Chidori he had tried it himself. It took him a full week to be able to pull it off. It would have been a few days, but Shino didn't want Kakashi to know that he could spy using his Spark Flies.)

Kabuto quickly found himself on the wrong end of an Aburame, and narrowly avoided the blow. Only to discover Kakashi behind him, somewhat amused at Shino.

"When did you steal my jutsu?" he asked mildly.

"Roughly two weeks ago. Why?"

"Just curious."

Kabuto felt like swearing, as Kakashi effectively pinned him long enough for Shino to absorb nearly all his chakra.

He was so in for it if the invasion didn't succeed.

* * *

Remus was already next to the Hokage when Shino arrived. Remus had been talking to Kakashi about his dog summons when the genjutsu hit.

Kakashi had been nice enough to lift it from the werewolf, who was eager to help.

Remus rather liked Konoha. When informed of his condition, the Hokage had him stay in the forest of death with the large snakes to keep him from leaving until sunrise. (Also to keep the tigers from making a snack of him, lol.)

Finding such easy acceptance after living in the magical communities where he was shunned was rather refreshing. He was seriously considering moving here to teach the students magic. The Hokage had certainly hinted that they were planning on extra classes.

Since Remus was already past the barrier (chakra and magic didn't mix that well unless the person was trained with both) Shino went to help Naruto, who had run after Gaara.

Something told him this would be a battle worth remembering.

* * *

Snape was actually grinning as he used the _levicorpus_ spell to immobilize the shinobi coming at him. Anko was more than happy to take advantage of the flying targets. The two of them made a rather formidable tag team.

While he made sure the shinobi would be easy pickings, Shibi was making sure the man didn't get hit with a kunai or shuriken. It wouldn't do to have one of Shino's magical instructors killed while helping defend the village.

One would think that the shinobi would duck if they saw a spell coming at them, but there were a few that were invisible to the naked eye. Snape was making very good use of those.

* * *

Shino glared at Orochimaru, who had brought the dead forms of the first, second and fourth Hokage out. Out of the three, the fourth seemed the most surprised to be back among the living.

Orochimaru went to place the special kunai into the former Hokages...only to find that Shino had beat him to the Fourth.

"I'm not letting you use _him_ against us," he growled.

Shino didn't miss the look of relief on the Third's face. Clearly he didn't fancy going against the Fourth either.

Soon it was a clash between Remus, the two Hokages and Shino. Shino and the Fourth tag teamed against the second Hokage, while Remus dealt with the first. Sarutobi was currently reminding Orochimaru why it wasn't a good idea to anger the Professor.

A stray shuriken knocked the sunglasses off Shino, and the Fourth got a good look at his eyes. Recognition came into his own.

"It can't be... James's son?"

Shino looked at him with surprise. How the hell did the Fourth Hokage know his birth father's name?

"Enough of this bullshit..." growled Shino.

Shino unleashed nearly his entire hive on the Second Hokage, draining him of whatever foul chakra kept his body on this side of death. The corpse Orochimaru had used fell to the ground along with the kunai the snake had implanted.

Shino turned his attention to the First Hokage, and the Fourth helped Remus pin the man down long enough for Shino to repeat what he had done.

While Remus made sure that Orochimaru didn't get near the Fourth, Shino went to assist the Third.

And found that Sarutobi was preparing to use a forbidden seal to take out Orochimaru.

He couldn't have that!

Shino cast his hand out, as if drawing something from his sleeve. A long thin sword appeared, as if it had fallen out.

In reality Shino had summoned it from the place he had stored it. A couple of years ago, when he had first discovered that he could snake speak, Shino had discovered a cave within the forest of death.

Inside that cave was a sword. An old sword which had drawn his interest.

He had called it Tsukiyomi, mostly because he had found it on a full moon near a nest of the larger snakes. A nest that had had eight of the largest snakes in the forest sleeping.

It had seemed fitting at the time.

Metal clashed with metal as Shino met swords with Orochimaru. The snake Sannin looked surprised to see the Aburame heir with a sword.

Particularly when Shino showed skill in using the blade.

It soon deteriorated into a sword battle, with neither side giving way.

Eventually Shino landed a blow against the sannin, and he hissed in fury.

"You will pay for that brat!" he hissed.

Shino smirked, and hissed in snake tongue _"Wanna bet?"_

Suddenly tongues of flames blew past him, and hit Orochimaru. The fight had given the third his second wind, and he was going in for the kill.

Orochimaru attempted to summon his snakes, but his chakra was too low for it to succeed.

Shino abruptly sank his sword into the sannin's side, dealing a mortal blow. Orochimaru's eyes widened at the sight of his own blood spilling out.

Shino's attention was on his sword. It had started to glow the minute he sank it into Orochimaru.

He jumped back, allowing Sarutobi to deal with Orochimaru. He was starting to tire.

He was almost too late to block the last ditch effort from the sannin to kill him.

Shino didn't think, he just reacted.

The sound of apparition echoed across the now silent battlefield. Shino's sword took off Orochimaru's right arm.

"If you're Orochi...then call me Susanoo," Shino said to the sannin.

He wondered if the snake caught the reference.

The barrier came undone, as Orochimaru's lackeys took him away. One of them cauterized the now bleeding limb. He wouldn't be using any jutsu for a while.

Shino blacked out, having worn himself out.

He woke up in his room a few hours later.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. Because of the fact Shino managed to heavily wound the snake, he gets to become a chunin along with Sasuke and Naruto?" asked Remus.

"The Elders were very impressed with their actions. It didn't hurt that they displayed several traits needed to become a chunin," said Anko.

"So what happens to that man who appeared in that coffin?" asked Remus. That had been rather odd, particularly the way Shino and the Third had reacted.

Sarutobi would be able to return to desk duty in two days. He was suffering from chakra exhaustion.

Anko looked annoyed.

"Because we have absolutely no idea how to kill him without setting off a riot, he'll have to stay at my apartment. Luckily Haku has recently been allowed to buy her own place, so she and Kinuko have moved out."

"Shino took out the other two by draining them..." said Remus.

Anko shook her head.

"The Fourth Hokage was the hero of the village, since he took out the Kyuubi no Yoko. People would react rather badly if we killed him twice."

"So does this mean that the Fourth will take back his post?" asked Shino, trying not to yawn.

"Unfortunately no. Since he was brought back using that foul jutsu, we can't trust him just yet. We can't risk him being taken over by Orochimaru."

"By the way, I cut his arm off for you," said Shino.

Anko brightened up.

"Did you use that sword?"

"What did you say to him before he fled?" asked Remus. He had seen Shino say something, but he was too far away to hear what.

"'_If you're Orochi, then call me Susanoo_'," Shino said amused.

Anko couldn't hold her straight face for longer than five seconds. She bust a gut laughing her ass off.

"That is priceless!" she cackled.

"Am I the only one not getting the joke?" asked Remus. He was rather confused by her reaction.

"It's Japanese mythology. Susanoo killed the eight headed snake Orochi using the sword Tsukiyomi."

"And?"

"I named the sword I used in the fight Tsukiyomi because of where I found it. Considering the man I fought with was named _Orochi_maru, it seemed appropriate."

"It appears I'll have to look that one up..." said Remus.

Anko grinned at her apprentice.

"Which reminds me... Hokage-sama wants to see you."

"I'll see you two later then."

* * *

Shino was allowed into the room, after seeing the ANBU first. Several people wanted to see how the Hokage was doing, so the old man had posted ANBU outside his room to keep the nosy civilians out.

Well, that and to protect him, but mostly to keep the civilians out.

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

"Come in Shino-kun. It appears that you actually _do_ have family here in Konoha..."

Shino paused. If he had family, then there was a chance they might want to take him from the Aburame clan. It was a small chance, but he really didn't like it.

"You apparently have a cousin here. He's the same age as you are, and he's a shinobi."

"Who is it?" asked Shino, trying to mask his emotions.

"Oh, you know who it is..." the Hokage was outright grinning at him. This was going to be funny as hell.

He gave the Hokage a look.

"Let me put it this way. Petunia Dursley came here twelve years ago with an infant, intending to leave the son of her step sister with her cousin. That woman was Kushina Uzumaki..."

"You mean..."

"Naruto is your first cousin on your mother's side. Yuri Uzumaki brought you here once to visit her cousin. Petunia must have gotten the address from Yuri."

"Naruto...is my cousin?" said Shino, floored.

The Hokage was grinning outright. It wasn't often one could shock an Aburame into showing their emotions.

"So what happens now?" Shino finally asked. It was a lot to process.

"Now you and your team will recover. Once the mission roster is back up, you'll continue on as you have."

Shino left the room, deciding to visit the monument to clear his head. It was one of the few places that had been spared from the destruction.

* * *

_**Alright folks, since everyone seems to like the idea for Shino's animagi form, I am going to post an actual poll on my profile. I am going to warn you now, Shino will NOT be turning into a spider of any shape or form. Shino has issues with spiders, bats and frogs. (He barely tolerates toads because Naruto has them for a summon animal.)**_


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto was rather surprised to see Shino on the monument. He was taking a break after training with the Pervy Sage for a bit. Jiraiya had been beyond angry that Orochimaru had dragged the Fourth from the grave.

He was very happy that Shino had prevented Orochimaru from using the former Hokage against them.

"Hey Shino, what's up?"

"I just found out that I have family here in Konoha."

Naruto didn't get it.

"The woman who left me here came to visit her cousin. That cousin had a son who is currently in our year..." said Shino, trying to avoid telling Naruto.

"Yeah, and? Who's your cousin?"

Shino decided to get it out. Naruto would never let him hear the end of it if he kept stalling like this.

"You are."

"Hah?"

"According to the Hokage, Petunia Dursley came here intending to drop me off with your mother, only to find out that she had died. She left after leaving me on the doorstep of the Aburame compound."

"Wait, so we're...?"

"Related by blood?"

Naruto sat down hard. He had family! And best of all it was Shino, who he had always considered a brother in all but blood!

"Wow..."

"Tell me about it."

The two sat there for a few hours, before Naruto broached the subject of Hogwarts.

Shino winced.

"I don't really want to go, but something tells me that until I do, that old man will never stop harassing me. Fortunately the Hokage has informed me that when I decide to leave, I can take a full team with me."

"Count me in!" said Naruto.

"Always."

* * *

"So basically we have to escort Jiraiya and find Tsunade?" asked Shino.

"The only way to clear Minato for duty is to find her. And possibly blackmail her into taking this job if we can't keep Minato," muttered the Hokage.

Naruto could care less either way. After learning Shino was in fact his biological cousin, Shibi had decided to finally adopt Naruto into the clan. Naruto was currently living across the hall from Shino.

Remus and Snape had reluctantly returned to Hogwarts, mostly because Dumbledore had made it very clear they couldn't leave without formally resigning.

Remus had taken to heart what Shino had said about Sirius. Snape had already informed Shino about the circumstances behind Sirius' imprisonment, and Shino had done what any shinobi would have done.

He had looked underneath the underneath.

Shino had theorized that Sirius Black had been framed by the fourth Marauder, since the man actually had nothing to gain by betraying the Potters.

Pettigrew, on the other hand, had a lot more to gain from the act. Plus the way he had supposedly died was far too sloppy to be convincing.

There was absolutely no way that he could have exploded and left a finger untouched by the flames.

Which was why Remus was going to look for Sirius and hopefully get the full story from the man.

Naruto was actually eager to leave the village.

Since coming back to life through Orochimaru, the Fourth had been making a nuisance of himself. Naruto was actively trying to avoid the man for the oddest of reasons

While he respected him for defeating the Kyuubi no Yoko, Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit bitter towards him for sealing the fox inside him.

So yeah, he was eager to leave. Particularly since the Fourth couldn't leave the village for fear of Orochimaru coming back and finishing the control jutsu on him.

* * *

Shino had volunteered to go into the casinos while Jiraiya took Naruto to the bars. Shino had put the fear of lightning into the Toad sage to keep him from going anywhere _near_ the bathhouses.

(Kakashi had words with Jiraiya, warning him about the fireflies that could electrocute him.)

Jiraiya didn't want to feel what being electrocuted was like. He had seen that movie with the white haired chick frying the toad kid.

(The first _X-Men _movie with Halle Berry.)

When they met up again, Jiraiya was gawking big time.

Shino had gotten bored and spent his allowance playing poker.

He was currently the one to beat at the table, and had over a million ryo in the pot.

"Royal flush," said Shino, laying down his cards.

The swearing could be heard from the street. Shino walked away having fleeced the entire table of nearly fifteen million ryo.

"Remind me never to play against you," said Jiraiya, shaking his head.

Naruto guffawed. Even he knew better than to go against Shino at poker. He had the best poker face among the genin and the chunin!

They immediately headed to the next town, to avoid anyone seeking revenge for being beaten so thoroughly at poker.

* * *

Shino opened the door to reveal...a blue skinned shark? He blinked.

"Oi, Naruto, seems like someone delivered sushi."

The shark person growled. He hated sushi lovers. (LOL. All hail the _ Tobi Show_ on Youtube!)

Naruto stared wide eyed at the shark person, then he spotted the Mist headband and grabbed his kunai.

Shino's attention, however, was drawn to the man down the hallway.

"I don't believe it. Itachi?"

"Hello Aburame."

Shino's attention was brought back when he heard Naruto squawk. The Shark had grabbed him by the collar.

"Let my cousin go or I'll show you why the Copy Ninja fears me," snapped Shino.

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

The shark yelped when Shino's firefly swarm started to sting him repeatedly with sharp, but powerful jolts of lightning. The man was obviously a water type, which meant his lightning would hurt more than usual.

"We're here for Naruto," said Itachi.

"Not going to happen on my watch. I'm not letting you kidnap my cousin."

"Cousin?"

"Naruto's mother was the cousin of my own," said Shino.

Everyone was surprised when the hallway grew colder, and the shark looked very shocked to see Haku.

"Uncle Kisame, why are you harassing _my_ boyfriend?"

"Haku? _Boyfriend?"_ said Kisame, his eyes darting between Haku and Shino.

"Uncle Kisame?" said the Leaf nin.

"I take it this is the same Haku you've mentioned before?" asked Itachi, raising an eyebrow.

"Considering my boxers are turning to ice..." winced Kisame.

"_ITACHI!"_ shrieked Sasuke.

Shino had had enough. He sent all his bugs after Sasuke, Kisame and Itachi.

Soon the only people with enough chakra to fight were Naruto, Shino and Haku.

"Right. Could someone _please _explain what the hell is going on?" asked Shino, his eyes twitching behind his glasses.

Itachi looked at his partner, then at Shino.

"We are after the tailed beasts, and that means we intend to kidnap Naruto."

"Heard Itachi was in the area," admitted Sasuke.

"Decided to keep Sasuke from getting himself killed," said Haku.

Shino pinched the bridge of his nose. Some days weren't worth getting up for.

"Right... Sasuke, I seriously doubt Itachi killed your clan without a good reason. And frankly I found the rumors as to why you killed them rather ridiculous."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. Someone had actually seen through that farce?

Shino looked at Kisame.

"I don't care if you are Haku's uncle or not. If you try to hurt my cousin, I will strangle you barehanded and use your sword as a paperweight."

Shino looked at Haku.

"And as for you..."

Haku tried for innocent and failed.

"What? You think I was going to let you run off without me?"

"...Point. So it seems we're at a standstill. Any suggestions?"

"...Can I kill Itachi?" asked Sasuke.

Shino walked up and whocked Sasuke on the head. The boy cursed, and rubbed the lump that was starting to form.

"Continue trying to kill him at your skill level and I will use a genjutsu that forces you to date the banshee," said Shino flatly.

Sasuke looked at him with wide eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me. If I can keep Kuranai Yuhi under a genjutsu for an hour without her being able to break it, then what's to stop me from doing the same to you? Especially since your Sharingan has yet to encounter a proper genjutsu?"

Sasuke winced and Itachi cracked a grin that was hidden by his cloak. Shino knew how to hit Sasuke and good.

"So gentlemen, do you have any suggestions?"

Itachi knew it was probably a bad idea to cross Shino, particularly since it was obvious he wasn't going to let Naruto go without a fight. He looked to his partner and said "Come back later when he's alone?"

Kisame looked at Itachi as if he was nuts.

"And leave my impressionable niece at the hands of someone like him?"

Haku kicked Kisame in the shin.

"Please, he's been trying to get me away from the _Twilight_ series for weeks and onto _Icha Icha_," she rolled her eyes.

Kisame twitched.

He looked at Itachi, eyes pleading. They _needed _a vacation from this ridiculous hunt dammit! Their leader never once let them have a break, and some of the other members were starting to get on their nerves! (coughTobicough)

Itachi remained stoic as ever. Shino was starting to develop a migraine...and then an idea hit him.

He could send these two to England and make that old man's life hell. It would get them away from Naruto and give them both something to do.

"I may have a solution to your problem..." started Shino.

And then he outlined his idea. Itachi and Kisame were all for it. They could cause some chaos and still be out of Shino's hair. Plus it would double as their vacation!

It was a win-win for all.

Jiraiya returned ten minutes after the two had left, with an unconscious woman in tow.

Shino raised an eyebrow, clearly wanting to know why he had her with him.

"She was under genjutsu and I rushed back?"

"Riiight...and we're supposed to believe that one? I need some aspirin..." said Shino.

* * *

Shino stared at the two women they had been sent to find. Was that...a pig with pearls around it's neck?

"You expect me to return _there_?" demanded Tsunade incredulous.

Shino had been suffering a rather nasty headache for days since Itachi left. Jiraiya still couldn't believe Shino had already figured out the Uchiha massacre was a ruse, even if he didn't know the real cause of it.

Haku was the only reason Shino hadn't sent his hive after the sannin. Her use of senbon had managed to do what aspirin couldn't.

Shino gave the woman a flat look.

"Just because of a few issues in your past you think it's necessary to drown yourself in booze and make a joke of yourself?" he asked annoyed. His migraine was growing worse.

Tsunade glared at him, and he gave his best one back. He was tired, cranky and his head felt like it was splitting in two. It didn't help that he had been stuck trying to help Naruto learn the Rasengan while Jiraiya taught him new seals to use.

In short he was in the mood to kill something, and her attitude was making her his prime target.

Aside from hearing the terms laid, Shino was not a happy camper. He had his beetles follow the woman to a local hotel, and to his delight it was completely made of wood.

If she was going to be a pain in the ass, then he was going to play her game.

Her cry of rage when she returned from the hot springs with her apprentice was particularly satisfying. Their roof was completely gone...not even a splinter left.

Baffled by this occurrence, the owner gave them another room. Only for the two to discover it had suddenly developed a leak within a few hours, and both ended up completely soaked courtesy of a minor rainstorm.

To say they were annoyed was an understatement.

Shino found the perfect way to relieve his migraine as he made sure neither of them got any sleep that night. It took Tsunade a good twelve hours and three hotels to figure out that the reason the roof and walls kept vanishing was because of a sudden termite problem that kept following them.

The two decided to sleep under the stars in a makeshift tent.

Tsunade shot him a glare the next morning.

* * *

Itachi was bored. After coming to England, he had learned a few things about the country that made him wonder how it had survived so long.

A week upon coming to England, he had discovered a secondary community of people he had originally believed to be shinobi. That thought was quickly changed the longer he was exposed to it.

The people were ignorant, lazy and above all cowards. They wouldn't last a minute against a real shinobi. Plus they all seemed to be searching for a boy named Potter.

Itachi already suspected that he had met this Potter, and the chances of him being their so called savior were absolutely slim to none.

Shino never believed in prophecies and certainly wasn't as good as these people believed.

Kisame had already chosen their next destination. It was a country called Scotland.

The two followed what appeared to be train tracks to a small village, and promptly stole enough gold coins to get a room for the night.

The village was called Hogsmeade, and it was rather quaint. Itachi could feel his nerves calming down while he was there.

Though he wished that the dog he saw in the village would quit following him around...

* * *

Tsunade stared. The brat who had been pranking her nonstop was asleep in the lap of what appeared to be a Mist nin. His glasses were off, and he had a few senbon in him.

"What the hell?"

"His migraine has gotten worse. I don't think my senbon are going to cut it for much longer," said the girl.

Tsunade, seeing a chance to get the kid to leave her the hell alone, moved to the boy's side. His breathing was shallow, as if he was fighting some inner pain.

"Let me take a look."

Tsunade tried not to wince as she scan the kid. Something was blocking his chakra output, and it wasn't because of the senbon. The girl clearly knew a thing or two about the human body, because she had never hit any points that could cause this.

Tsunade carefully tried to unblock the boy's chakra. Since he was an Aburame, she knew if she didn't do something he would be dead within a week at the most. Possibly sooner, judging by the amount of insects the kid had.

It wasn't that she liked the kid or anything, just that if she didn't do something then he was likely to annoy her even more.

Shino woke up during her examination, and Tsunade tried not to gasp at the color of his eyes. She had never seen such pure green.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to unblock your chakra."

"...It's not my chakra that is blocked," he said.

Seeing her confused look, Shino sat up. His head was absolutely murdering him at this point.

"I have a secondary power that was rarely used until now, but recently I've been training with it. It still hasn't stabilized," said Shino.

Years of not using his magic had caused it to stagnate. After waking it up by training with Snape and Remus, his magic was trying to take over. Shino's chakra control would be shot until he got it back under control.

Unfortunately, it also meant he wouldn't be able to use his full hive until it was back to normal. If he tried it could kill him.


	11. Chapter 11

Shino looked at the scene before him in disbelief. Sometime during the past twelve hours, Tsunade had drugged Jiraiya. Naruto was still recovering from _finally_ learning the proper use of the Rasengan, and he was still suffering from magic overload.

Shino had a solution to his wonky control issue.

The next time he was in a fight, he was going to use up all his magic and then use his chakra to finish the enemy off. Hopefully it would stabilize his energy levels, because they were murdering him.

Orochimaru had drafted Tsunade into healing his right arm, which had barely been rescued by his lackeys. Kabuto could have done it, but he had been captured and later killed by Anko. Which meant Orochimaru was down one medic nin.

Apparently he had back ups, because he had some weird guy who used bones to fight them. It was fairly obvious the man was suffering from some ailment, yet he continued to fight.

A truly noteworthy shinobi indeed.

Shino of course used his bugs to drain whatever toxin Tsunade had used on Jiraiya while Naruto dealt with the bone boy.

(And no, the irony wasn't lost on Shino that he insisted on calling Orochimaru's lackey bone boy. Considering his nickname among the genin was bug boy, he found it somewhat amusing.)

Once Jiraiya was back on his feet (and Shino felt more tired than ever) he turned his attention on the bone user. Now was the best time to attack him.

Shino ignored all of his chakra based attacks and started hitting the man hard with all of the magical ones that Snape had showed him.

Shino, once he learned the proper outlet for his magic, was a natural at hexes, curses and charms. Particularly the wandless variety.

The bone user ducked and dodged the blades of wind, and was caught off guard by the whip that Shino made.

He was rather pleased to note that his headache was finally starting to go away.

Eventually he decided to remake the Uchiha Dragon of Fire trick. This time he was going to make a dragon made entirely of gale force winds.

Naruto distracted the man while Shino concentrated, and as he blew outward, the dragon took form.

The thing was more impressive than his fire dragon technique. Usually Shino could only maintain a dragon the size of a medium sized dog.

This dragon, however, was easily the size of Naruto's apartment building.

Naruto paused long enough to gape at the size of the thing.

"...No wonder I was having migraine problems," said Shino.

Shino held onto his dragon, which was surprisingly easy since he got it out. Apparently the issue was bringing it out, and not control.

With the enemy suitably distracted by the dragon, Naruto used his new Rasengan technique to take out the bone user. He dealt some serious damage to them.

Shino's attention was quickly given to Orochimaru, who seemed much worse for wear since losing his arm.

It was rather hard to summon or use jutsu one handed.

(Not that that ever stopped Haku. She had unsuccessfully tried to teach her boyfriend how to do it. Hinata had picked it up rather quickly, but Shino and Naruto were having no luck with it. It was the opinion of Kurenai that it was a skill that only females could learn with any success.)

Haku had been somewhat surprised to learn that Shino had a peanut allergy. And that he couldn't go deeper than twenty feet under water.

He could water walk like a Mist shinobi, but he couldn't dive worth a damn. Plus there was the new issue of his migraines. His magic and chakra were waging war inside of him, and it was likely to kill him if he didn't learn to control both powers.

* * *

Shino looked actually showed his anger when the bone user hit Naruto. He was hurt worse than normal, and on anyone else it would have been fatal.

However, the man had no ability to cut off the chakra flow, which meant the Kyuubi was hard at work healing the damage.

"Hurting my cousin like that...was your last mistake."

Shino's chakra and magic flared wildly, and for once they weren't clashing.

The man looked at Shino with wide eyes, as the intent to kill rivaled most jounin's. And there was no hesitation in his stance.

Swarms of insects came out of Shino, and all of them were deadly to humans.

Naruto stared as he saw the newest addition to Shino's hive, recently imported to the Aburame compound from their contacts in the Outside.

They were called Giant Japanese Wasps, and they were bigger than most of their kin. And they were absolutely deadly when they stung.

Shino had found the way they worked quite fascinating, because their hives simulated the way piranha attacked their prey. A scout attacks the victim, and if killed drew the entire hive to attack. And their venom was lethal in small amounts.

Apparently there were quite a few deaths attributed to these wasps in Asia.*

The bone man was quickly lost under the swarm...and when Shino called them back he was absolutely dead. The bumps all over his skin indicated several stings, all of them fatal. If the venom didn't kill him, then the allergic shock would.

And there wasn't a chance in hell that Tsunade _or_ her apprentice would heal him. Not that Shino had the antidote to the wasps anyway.

Orochimaru, his attention diverted to the death of his accomplice, failed to block a blow from Jiraiya. Tsunade was out for the count because of the blood, and her apprentice was defending her.

Seeing that his loss was evident, Orochimaru did a Reverse Summon to escape. There was no chance of him being able to defeat Jiraiya under the circumstances.

* * *

Tsunade took an hour to recover, and by then they had relocated. The last thing they needed was for the Leaf Village to be in trouble because of the fact they destroyed a large castle.

"I believe...that you have lost yet another bet Tsunade-hime," said Jiraiya finally.

Tsunade chuckled, but admitted that he was right. But for once she didn't care.

"Which means...that you have to recognize Naruto and myself," said Shino.

"Man, those wasps of yours were cool Shino!" said Naruto.

"Father will be pleased to hear how they worked under battlefield conditions. They haven't been cleared by the clan to be used yet."

"I figured you were an Aburame brat... Though you're more vocal than the rest," said Tsunade.

"I was adopted. It only stands to reason," Shino admitted.

Tsunade noted the girl from before waiting in the branches.

"So what's her story then?"

"Civilian raised by Zabusa of the Mist, mostly because I have a Kekkei Genkai. He made sure I was well versed in senbon, but my healing jutsu needs work," said Haku.

Tsunade handed Naruto her necklace, and gave Shino a look.

"I take it you want me to train your girlfriend?"

"Actually, there is one other thing I would want. If Haku wants to train with you, that's her business not mine. I'm not going to dictate what she learns."

"What?"

"My mother. Before I was adopted, she took a hit that made it impossible for her to safely bear children. If it's possible, I would like to have that problem fixed."

Tsunade stared at him.

"Are you serious?"

"He's the heir to the Aburame clan. What do you think?" said Haku grinning.

"Why would an adopted heir want his mother healed? Aren't you worried about losing your status?" she asked bewildered.

"You think I actually _care_ about that? I'm the only fire and lightning user in the clan, I'm the cousin of the village idiot, and my girlfriend is a former Mist nin with a bloodline limit. At which point should I care about public opinion?" Shino countered.

"Plus there's the fact that thanks to you, the Outside has developed an unhealthy interest in the Shinobi nations," Haku reminded him.

"Thanks for reminding me," said Shino dryly.

Tsunade looked at him in question.

"Apparently I happen to be the so called Savior of the Magical Communities Outside, and they've been looking for me for the past three years. Chances are that I'll have to lead a team to the Outside to prevent interference."

"Now that we've got the old lady, do we have to return to the village?" asked Naruto.

"You thinking a short vacation?" asked Shino.

"You think I want to deal with the jerk who sealed that overgrown fuzzball in me?" countered Naruto.

Tsunade blinked.

"Minato survived?"

"He didn't survive. That pedophile who just got his ass kicked brought him back with a foul jutsu, and so far it has yet to wear off. He's restricted to the village in case that freak tries to take control of him," said Shino blandly.

"Yeah, remember the look on his face when he heard you taking to that snake in the Forest? I thought he was going to have a heart attack!" grinned Naruto.

"Yeah...I think we're all overdue for a bit of a vacation, and Sensei never said we had to bring you back immediately," said Jiraiya.

"Plus it will give her time to get used to the village again," said Shino.

* * *

Shino was the one who ended up babysitting Tsunade. The last thing Jiraiya wanted was for her to make a break for it, using the same trick Orochimaru used.

There was actually a double purpose for Shino to watch her. His bizarre brand of luck would help pay off the debts Tsunade incurred and keep the Leaf Village out of bankruptcy later. He honestly didn't have a problem, since there was very little for him to use all that cash for.

Tsunade of course was gaping at the fact that a thirteen and a half year old heir to the Aburame clan had the weirdest ability to win at almost every game he played.

He mostly stuck to poker, since he made it very clear he wasn't cheating. He even took off his coat to insure no one could claim he was.

Yet every hand he beat the players. Tsunade was in awe of his poker face.

Naruto ended up babysitting Jiraiya while Haku learned more about healing jutsu from Shizune.

Shino had been surprised to learn that the rabbit Naruto nearly skewered during that disaster mission in Wave was actually Haku's pet.

Probably why Haku hit it off with Shizune. They had unconventional shinobi pets.

When Tsunade heard of the migraines Shino kept getting, she took a look at his chakra pathways.

And found that for some reason, his chakra and magic had become imbalanced to the point where they couldn't coexist peacefully. Something had destabilized the balance.

Shino had a nasty hunch as to why the balance had been shot to hell.

"It has to be that old man. During the Chunin exams I drained almost all of his magic with my hive, and I had the hardest time getting rid of the excess. Healing seemed to have some effect, but it's possible that there's still some lingering magic," said Shino.

"I thought there was something foreign in your pathways...I had assumed it was your magic though."

"Is there any way to get rid of it? I would like to be able to fight without having my head feel like it's exploding."

"From what I can tell, the nature of the foreign magic is earth and fire. That's may be what's causing the problem."

"My magic is wind nature. Earth is the opposite of what I have. But fire is similar enough to my chakra nature..."

"Which is most likely the only reason you're still alive."

"My headache is gone for the moment, but I need to exhaust all the magic inside of me before it kills me," said Shino.

"Well, there is _one_ way to exhaust magic that I know of..." said Tsunade.

"I'm listening," said Shino.

"It's incredibly difficult, and there is a question of whether your magic is suited to the task. But the most magically exhausting thing I have every heard of is...animal transformation. And I mean a full on transformation."

"What would it entail?"

"We would need to see what animal you can turn into, and for that we would require a potion. After that it's mostly meditation and direction of the magic into the parts of your body."

"...Where did you learn of this?"

"From someone who had gone through the process. His name was James Potter, if I remember right. Said it was the hardest thing he had ever done."

"Potter?"

Tsunade looked at him in amusement.

"You look almost exactly like him without the sunglasses on. Only his eyes were hazel, not emerald."

"...There is the distinct possibility that my birth name is Harry Potter."

"Either way, you need to get rid of that foreign magic."

* * *

Snape was not happy to be back. All the squalling, whining, bitching and generally childishness of the students gave him migraines. He longed for the school year to be over so he could return to Konoha. He had struck up an interesting relationship with Anko.

She loved snakes, poisons, messing with people's heads, and she could relate to having served a pedophile with a snake fetish.

(Snape wasn't that oblivious to Voldemort's tastes. It was surprising that none of the other Death Eater's noticed that all the young boys they came across were usually taken care of by the Dark Lord personally.)

He wasn't the only one eager to leave the school. Lupin didn't have to worry about rumors when he left, since it was common knowledge that the job was curse. But Snape would raise warning flags when he left.

Lupin had already enlisted him in finding Black, if only to send him to Konoha where he would be dealt with appropriately.

Though he did wonder who the hell sent those two shinobi who were hanging around the village. They weren't even from the same Hidden Village, and one of them was from the Leaf!

The two had thankfully kept a low profile, though it was a miracle no one had seen through the genjutsu the Mist nin had used to cover up his...skin.

Though the look the Leaf nin had given him when he noted their presence had been rather worrying. So had the dog when he had noted the unusual magic on the hound.

He really needed an actual vacation. His nerves were completely shot to hell after dealing with children for nearly ten years, and Dumbledore refused to let him leave the country.

Paranoid, conniving old bastard...

* * *

Shino sat down in his room, trying to find his magic. Tsunade actually knew Snape from before, and was out getting an owl to contact him for the potion.

Haku had gone with her, mostly to talk about senbon while they were out.

Tsunade found Haku to be a delight to talk to, as she had a knack for the healing arts. Her senbon control was almost prodigy-level. And she had the most interesting ice technique she had seen in a while.

Tsunade was more interested in Haku's ability to flee without enemy shinobi getting to her at the moment than she was taking the girl on as an apprentice.

He took a deep, even breath. This was easier than he would have thought, since Jiraiya had taken Naruto out for more training. Shizune was in the room, reading some scrolls, so he had an early warning system in place.

Slowly, he reached inward. It was easy to see his chakra system...as an Aburame he had to be intimately aware of it when he was awake. It was the only way for their clan to be able to survive with insects devouring their chakra every waking minute. If they weren't, then they wouldn't know when to stop using their chakra and be killed by the very thing that they used to fight.

Their kekkai insects were a double edged sword, but it was one Shino bore with ease. It would only harm him if he allowed it to.

His magic was another story. He had felt it before, but he had never had a chance to explore it properly. So he dove into his magical core, and in seconds found the lingering magic of the old man.

Just as Tsunade had thought, it was that magic that was giving him migraines and screwing up his chakra control. The Earth magic was fighting his Wind, but it appeared his was winning.

That wasn't too surprising, since his Wind was able to replenish itself while the Earth had nowhere to go. Shino wasn't even going to attempt to experiment with Earth jutsu.

He remembered a little too vividly what happened every time he attempted to use Wind chakra. He didn't want it to blow up in his face again.

He felt calmer than he had in weeks, and meditating seemed to be the only solution to separating that Earth magic. The Fire attributes had already been absorbed by his chakra system, so all he needed to do was get rid of the Earth.

He didn't look up from his spot until he felt Naruto returning. He was reluctant to admit, but it had gone easier without his cousin around.

Naruto was a bit loud at times, and Shino was fairly sure he was an ADD poster child of some sort with all that nervous energy.

It made him a great battlefield shinobi, but a crappy intelligence one. He was fairly sure that was why Kuranai had banned Naruto from the explosive tags, despite Anko's rather vocal encouragement for him to experiment with them.

Tsunade returned an hour later.

"How did it go gaki?"

"The Fire magic was absorbed, but the migraines appear to be due to the fact that my Wind is trying to get rid of the Earth."

"I'm surprised you could even access it on the first try. Most genin couldn't pull that off if their life depended on it."

"Chunin actually. I didn't bother to pack the vest."

"Figures," snorted Tsunade.

"And it wasn't that hard. Every Aburame with a decent sized hive has to be able to locate their chakra pool in order to maintain it. And I have the largest hive of the entire clan."

* * *

**(This is quite true, and the idea came from you, the reviewers. Sorry, but it seems he won't have it as an animagus form. This was the next best thing.)**


	12. Chapter 12

Snape looked up and saw the unfamiliar bird, and knew it had to have come from the Elemental Countries. It was a red tailed hawk, and those weren't native to the area.

Fire country, however, used those frequently.

_'Dear Severus-san,_

_I am sorry to hear what happened to Lily-chan. She was a good friend. I have come to ask for a rather rare and dangerous potion. I believe you would know of it, since it's on your Ministry's watch list._

_It's the animagus potion. It seems the heir to the Aburame clan has absorbed the wrong magic, and it's interfering with his work. He needs to get rid of the foreign magic before it kills him._

_Sincerely, Tsunade.'_

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. He was very glad it was written in katakana, because the looks the others were shooting him made it clear that they were very curious. He looked at the hawk, who glared right back at him.

"Take what you want from my plate. I seem to have lost my appetite..."

The hawk immediately began to devour all the meat he had on his plate. It didn't seem to care whether it was cooked or raw.

Snape was rather pleased to see that it's messy eating habits had the curious witches turning green at the gills. McGonagall and Sprout turned away before they lost their breakfast.

He left the table, and the hawk decided to go annoy the owls while Snape went to work. Fortunately he had all the ingredients needed to brew the potion in his personal stores, so no one would become suspicious of him.

He also had a copy of the book Shino would need to start the process.

* * *

Tsunade wasn't too happy to see the village again. Though they had delayed their arrival for an entire week, eventually they had made it back.

It was Hinata who greeted them, and Naruto was thrilled to see his girlfriend again. Tsunade watched their exchange with open amusement, while Shino kicked Jiraiya meaningfully in the shin.

"I see that in any of your new books, your research notes are toast."

"Point."

Jiraiya had seen what Shino did to Tsunade's hotel room before his migraines stopped him. He didn't want a repeat with his books.

During the next week, Tsunade was rather busy. The first thing she did was look over the undead Minato...and cleared him of any foul chakra that still lingered over Orochimaru. The only issue he would have would be chakra control, since the body Orochimaru had used had the opposite elements that Minato once had.

He would have to start all over again, which didn't make him very happy at all.

The next thing she did was look at Shino's mother...and then she spent ten hours repairing the damage to her body. Only time would tell whether or not she would be able to bear a child again.

After that, she had to deal with the Elders, who were pushing for her to take over for the Third.

Minato wouldn't be able to retake his old post with his body as it was, and frankly he didn't want it anyway.

(When asked by Shino, the man only said the words 'Paperwork Demons' with a shudder, then went to get drunk.)

* * *

It had been over a month since Tsunade's return, and there had been a few changes in the village.

First was the news that Shibi was expecting another child. Tsunade had done the impossible, and his wife could have another. Those who knew of Shino's status as the adopted heir wondered what it meant for him.

Shibi cleared that issue up a few days later. It was with the approval of the clan that Shino kept his status as the heir, mostly because he had already proven to be a valuable asset.

Besides, he had the biggest hive of the entire clan, so they weren't going to worry about his blood relation. That, and the paperwork would have been a major headache to deal with.

The second biggest thing was that the entire council of clan heads had all agreed that Tsunade should take over for the Third.

When Shino heard about that, he had only one thing to say about it.

"Try not to look as constipated as the rest of them. The all look like they need prune juice or something."

Shizune had to leave the room because of her laughing. Anko, when she heard about the comment, cackled insanely. Naruto just cackled.

(Minato had looked annoyed, but admitted Shino had a point. He _did_ look constipated on the mountain.)

A few days after Tsunade accepted the appointment, the hawk she had sent from the Leaf outpost returned...with a large package.

Shino was still having migraines, but he had been having limited success in separating the Earth magic that was causing them. He wasn't used to manipulating magic at all.

Tsunade had all of those with confirmed magic wait in a single room. Those who were interested in going to the Outside were going to take the potion. Only a few were interested in the animal transformation though.

Hinata, Naruto, Shino and Haku were all going to take it. Anko was already laying bets with Kakashi as to what each of the kids would get.

Both of them agreed that Naruto would be a fox of some sort. Haku they were debating whether she would be an arctic wolf or something with fangs. Hinata had to be something subtle, like a bat.

But it was Shino who was the source of most of the betting. They just couldn't figure out what he would be.

Snake, bug, feline, canine, or bird. Either way it would be something to remember. Spider wasn't even on the list of possibilities.

Naruto went first, and downed the potion in one go. He immediately grimaced at the taste. Five seconds later there was a pop sound, and he turned into a very blond, very cute fox. It was his tails that caused staring though. The demon inside was clearly influencing his animal form, because Naruto had nine tails instead of just one.

Haku was next, and she also grimaced. Five seconds later, and she turned into a rather beautiful colored arctic wolf with silver coloring.

Hinata was after her, and she turned out to be the most surprising of all. Hinata became a great white shark, according to an amused Haku.

Finally, it was Shino's turn. Having seen the reactions to the potion, he wasn't too eager to try it. Then again, he knew it was a necessity, since they had few options that would drain the Earth magic from him.

He downed the potion in one gulp...and ten seconds later broke the windows in the room. Anko was laughing her ass off, collecting her bets from the others. She had bet on snake.

Shino had become a snake bigger than most of the ones in the Forest of Death, and it was definitely of the aquatic variety. The fangs alone looked lethal.

The only issue was that no one could figure out what the hell it was, aside from an aqautic snake of some sort.

The only complaint Tsunade had was that he broke the windows and pushed everyone down. She could already hear the civilians complaining about the glass that was rained down on them.

"I need a drink..."

Shino handed her a sake bottle, and she downed it...five seconds later a very surprised swamp slug was glaring at him.

"The Slug Princess becomes a slug," he said amused.

"Just for that, your team gets to clean up the mess you just made of those windows."

"Naruto, if you would?"

Naruto gave his best fox grin, and his shadow clones went to work.

Shino would translate the book for the others, and then pass it out. Once he did that, Kurenai had plans to incorporate the animagi training into their daily routine.

Because of the aquatic nature of Shino and Hinata's animal forms, Kurenai and Anko had them set up shop near the largest saltwater lake and had them meditating every day after practice.

Shino was the first to start the process, since he was already aware of channeling his power through his body one piece at a time. Hinata was after him, since she had some experience in that area thanks to her clan's jutsu.

Naruto was having little to no luck with the task, and Haku wasn't much better. Fortunately for them, Shibi didn't mind showing them how. It wasn't like he had anything better to do with his spare time.

* * *

Itachi stared at Snape. This man not only knew what they were, but he was willing to hire them?

"Why?"

"The sooner Black is sent to the Elemental Countries, the sooner the old goat in the castle will get rid of those creatures outside."

Itachi looked outside with distaste. Those dementor things had it in for the shinobi, ever since Kisame ran into one near the lake. The only reason Itachi and Kisame hadn't been eaten yet was because they were shinobi, and therefore more or less immune to the sight of people dying.

Though Itachi found those strange horse creatures fascinating. Kisame had an allergy to them.

"What does this Black look like?"

"Have you seen the posters outside?" Snape replied dryly.

"That's the one everyone is up in arms about?" said Kisame, trying not to sneeze. He had a head cold, which was unusual because Mist was as close to England's climate as you could get.

Snape handed him a pepper-up potion, and Kisame took it. He didn't think their potential client was going to poison him. Aside from his ears smoking (and Itachi was pleased to note that Kisame stopped mid sneeze) Kisame looked none the worse for wear.

"Fifty gold coins, and you do the shipping. We'll incapacitate him, but that's it."

"Deal."

_Two hours later..._

Snape wasn't surprised to see Black delivered to his room. He called Lupin, and once he explained what he was going to do, the werewolf was all for it.

Then again, it wasn't often one was literally handed blackmail material on an old friend. Lupin was rather adept at tying those frilly pink bows and taking pictures.

Snape didn't want to know why.

Once done, Snape conjured up a box, left a single sleeping potion in it, and shipped it all off to Anko in Fire country. Black was too heavy for the owls to deliver him without raising alarms.

About a week later, after sending Black far, far from the castle, Itachi and Kisame and their final run in with the dementors.

Though Snape was amused to see that the score was Shinobi-3 Dementors-0. Fifty of the foul beasts would never survive that battle, which thankfully took place in the Forbidden Forest.

* * *

Shino looked up from his book, and realized he had _finally _found what type of snake he was.

_The Scandinavian Basilisk is the fierce cousin of the more well known Greek Basilisk. They primarily dwell in volcanic waters, though sightings of them above water often mistake them for sea dragons. The Norse men once mistook this basilisk as Midgardsomr, the World Serpent, due to it's enormous size and acidic venom._

_While the Scandinavian basilisk does not kill at a glance, it does possess eyes similar to great white sharks. If anything, the shark is the closest predator the snake has in the sea, and it is often a close fight between which is the better predator._

_It is interesting to note, however, that despite this rivalry the two often coexist in relative peace, only coming to blows when prey is involved and the size of one is equal to the other. This mostly occurs in juvenile basilisks. _

_The primary diet of the Scandinavian Basilisk is giant squid and other larger predators._

After reading that chapter, Shino immediately looked up Greek Basilisks for a reference.

_Let's see...Spiders flee before it, can live up to two thousand years if the hunting is good, is hatched from a chicken egg laid under a toad, can kill with a glance, and has the strongest venom above sea level. Dear kami, it's Anko's perfect pet!_

Shino decided then and there if he could ever find a Greek Basilisk and seal it's eyes, he would give it to Anko as a pet. She would probably love it. It wasn't like she couldn't keep it, since the snake only grew up to a hundred feet long, and there were snakes easily that size in the forest of death.

Plus Tsunade would most likely approve of it anyway, since the only cure for basilisk venom (of either type) was phoenix tears.

The only issue would be acquiring a phoenix.

* * *

Shino happened to be near the T and I department when the crate came in. He was rather curious as to why it had holes in it, and was making sounds he had only heard on an Inuzuka hound when it came time for their bi-monthly flea bath.

(He only knew what _that_ sound was like because they were often drafted into helping Hana and Kiba give all the dogs their baths.)

It was for Anko, and the address on the side was all Shino needed to know.

"Anko, it appears your boyfriend has sent you something," said Shino blandly.

"The question is, what did he send? He knows I like snakes more than anything four legged."

The thing inside whined louder.

"Might as well open it up. Are the doors closed and locked?" asked Shino.

"We're in the interrogation room. What do you think?"

Shino took the crowbar Anko had given him, and pried the box open. He recognized the signs of Itachi's Sharingan immediately, and tried not to gape.

"Why did Itachi use genjutsu on a dog?" he asked.

"Itachi?" Anko said, eyes narrowed.

"The hive recognized his chakra signature."

Then Shino looked past that signature and said "This is no dog."

The 'dog' clearly knew he was in trouble from the looks the two were giving him, and shifted back.

"An Animagus...figures."

Shino watched the interrogation of Sirius Black with patience. He was one of the few who had heard the tale of his imprisonment, and he didn't believe the man was guilty in the first place. Sirius was clearly surprised by the fact that the shinobi were willing to believe his innocence right off the bat.

Then again, he was in a department that was trained to tell when people were lying, and he had absolutely no skill in hiding his emotions from them.

Anko got the whole story from him, ran everything through Ibiki, and then sent in Tsunade.

They already knew that he had no intention of _coming _to the Elemental countries in the first place, and had been sent there against his will.

After catching the scent of his godson (whom he hadn't seen in twelve years) chances were good that he was going to stay in the Leaf.

The only question was where to put him.

That was solved by Hana Inuzuka, who had seen his transformation and had become interested. Tsunade had made it very clear that she could care less who tried to turn into an animagus, so long as their bodies could withstand the transformation.

Hana was one of the lucky few with enough magic to pull it off.

* * *

Sirius watched the team go through their animagi training with a critical eye. As one who had pulled it off without any help from a transfiguration master or mistress, he had valuable insight to help them.

And he had already corrected a few issues with Naruto and Haku's training. They were finally on the same level as Hinata and Shino were within their first week.

Shino had begun the third step of transformation, and was about to perform his first full on shift.

Hinata wasn't far behind him, but she had a cold and wasn't allowed in the lake that day. Shino got into the middle of the lake using the water walking technique...and began the shift.

First his body grew longer...then his mouth sprouted venomous fangs. His eyes moved to the side of his head, and his hive went deeper into his body. By the time his chakra quit holding him above water, he no longer needed it.

The subtle patterns along his body were rather intricate and beautiful in their own way. Haku certainly liked them, which was all Shino cared about.

He was very surprised to learn that as long as he was a basilisk, his body could withstand diving deeper than twenty feet.

His hive wouldn't die from the pressure change or the colder temperatures. Which was the only reason Shino refused to participate in the lake cleaning missions.

(After explaining why he couldn't join his teammates, Kurenai quit accepting those missions.)

Naruto was starting to channel his chakra to places other than just his hands and feet. It didn't hurt that Haku and Naruto had forms similar enough to Sirius.

Shino had actually heard an interesting rumor about Sirius recently.

Apparently he was brave enough to court an Inuzuka...and Hana actually liked him well enough to accept his affections. Tsume was rather eager for the two to be paired, since Sirius could turn into a dog on command (and was rather experienced in fighting with magic) he made a prime husband for her daughter.

Kiba had absolutely no objections to the match, because Sirius got on his good side rather early...by helping Kiba prank his jounin instructor Kakashi.

Sirius was currently in a prank war with Iruka when not helping (or recovering from his twelve year forced imprisonment.)

The prank war was being won by Iruka's team...which consisted of Naruto, Shino, Hinata and Haku. Sirius had Kiba, Shikamaru, Sasuke and weapon mistress in-training named Tenten. Despite having the resident geniuses on his side, they were no match for the pranking duo of Shino and Naruto.

Though Sirius still didn't know Shino was his missing godson.


	13. Chapter 13

Shino practiced with his new trick every day, and found that as long as he was in snake form, the cold wouldn't kill off his hive. Something that pleased Haku to no end.

Though he did find a problem with his new Japanese Wasp hive.

After a few training session with his girlfriend, Shino found his new hive rather testy and hard to handle. They didn't respond to cold well at all, and he tried to avoid bringing them out in situations when a drone could die.

The Japanese wasps responded to the death of their own rather badly, often turning into the insect equivalent of piranhas and killing everything in sight. Only the Aburame clan was safe from that problem, and even then they were careful not to use them in the field too often.

If Shino didn't care about his hive so much, then he would have killed off the Japanese wasps in his hive for safety reasons. As it was, he wasn't going to use them again unless he absolutely had to.

Fortunately, the wasps were rather vulnerable to lightning, which meant his lightning bugs could get rid of them within minutes if he lost control of the hive.

* * *

Snape filled out the paperwork, and waited to head to Konoha. Dumbledore wanted the Potter boy at Hogwarts at any cost...which was why Snape had filled out the paperwork under his name.

If Dumbledore wanted Shino so badly, he was going to have to pay for the boy to attend. And even then, they would mostly be doing reconnaissance work.

Shino and his team would be scouting the magical communities for people willing to tutor the rest of the village in magic. It was something that perked the interest of the Hokage, and it kept Dumbledore from trying to force them to stay.

Snape would be the one to take them shopping for supplies, and he was going to avoid Ollivander's when it came time for wands. The last thing the shinobi needed was to have Ministry tracers on them.

Shino's team was called in once Snape filed the mission request. While Dumbledore had agreed to pay for the mission, it was Snape would was designated as the client.

Tsunade found that trick rather amusing, since Dumbledore clearly had no idea how much an S-ranked mission would cost. Best of all the old man couldn't back out, because he had signed off without reading the paperwork. The goblins would insure that the shinobi were well paid for their efforts.

Needless to say once the goblins learned of the shinobi communities, there was a subtle shift towards the Elemental countries for the goblin clans. It wasn't an uncommon sight these days to see a goblin working side-by-side with a shinobi banker. The goblins found the respect given to them by fellow warriors rather refreshing.

Probably why they were more than happy to give Shino the back door into his account, which he had no idea he even had. At least he now had a place to put all of his poker winnings.

* * *

Shino wasn't happy. It was simple really. He hated the cold with a fierce and fiery passion that only Haku or Naruto could calm.

And yet here he was, trying not to flinch at the noise level of this Quidditch World Cup. He had to keep reminding himself that he was on a mission, and wasn't allowed to skewer people to shut them up.

(Here he paused, because he realized he really shouldn't hang out with Anko so much.)

Anko was having a better time of it, having somehow gained the position of DADA teacher at the school they were stuck at. Technically she would be teaching alongside another, who had come at Dumbledore's request.

Strangely enough, Alastor Moody rather liked the shinobi, who followed his doctrine of 'Constant Vigilance' every time they woke up.

Naruto was already gone, having found kindred spirits in a pair of identical twins. Hinata had followed him, if only to make sure he didn't get lost on the way back. Sasuke, the only person who wasn't on his team, was out getting the water. He was also trying not to strangle the youngest son of the Weasly brood.

(Though Shino was very surprised to see Sasuke flirting with the brunette Hermione.)

Haku was still reading, which meant he had to deal with the migraine himself.

Alas, he couldn't sick his hive on the rowdy people.

They had been given tents near the Weasly clan, who they would be staying with until they went to the school.

Shino would almost feel sorry for the school...if he didn't want to head home in the first place. He hated the cold.

* * *

Shino and Naruto were quite possibly the only males unaffected by the Veela. Then again, they had girlfriends who would cheerfully murder them in their sleep if they did more than oogle them.

Hinata knew way too many scary tricks with her kekkei genkai. Her father had been very informative once he realized there was little chance his daughter would fall for someone_ other_ than Naruto.

Since he it was obvious Hinata had a crush on Naruto (which was reciprocated by the boy in question) he made very sure that Naruto would never think of cheating on his daughter.

It made for a very interesting conversation, to say the least.

(Shino's mother had a similar conversation with Haku and Kin. Shino honestly didn't expect the Sound girl to fall for him...though thankfully Haku had no problems with the idea.)

Shino didn't really see the appeal. He dealt with genjutsu all the time, so illusions made it rather boring. Naruto, on the other hand, was one of the few shinobi who could be unaffected by illusions...or fall so deeply into it that it would take foreign chakra to break it.

It was usually a toss up, but Shino had noted a pattern. Naruto never fell for one of Kurenai-sensei's illusions, but he always fell for Shino's.

He suspected it was because Kurenai was female. It was rather odd. Shino noted the looks Hinata and Haku were giving the two of them, so he checked on Sasuke.

He shouldn't have bothered. Years of dealing with fan girls had immunized the Uchiha boy to females, which was why he was one of the few shinobi males who's eyes never strayed to the Hokage's rather impressive bust. Shino secretly suspected the boy was either gay, or at the very least bi.

Hermione Granger was shooting dark looks at Ron, who was clearly falling hard for the Veela. She noted his look, and beamed at all three of them for not acting like total idiots.

Shino discreetly nodded towards Haku and Hinata, and she got the message.

He found the game interesting, but not very exciting. The only position that seemed like it would be fun was the one that had the bats.

(When he commented on that, the twins had beamed at him, and he learned that they played that same position on their house team. It was more or less how he finally learned their names.)

* * *

While Shino was discussing the beater's position on the team, he heard the distinct sound of screaming outside.

The others had heard it as well, but it was Haku who dared to investigate. She was closest to the tent opening.

She came back in, shocked.

"Battle outside, grab the kunai."

Anko grinned evilly.

"Alright gaki, try to avoid the civilians and non combatants!"

"...There is another option, Anko-sempai," said Shino.

She looked at him. He held up a container that sloshed when he moved it.

"Is that...what I think it is?" she asked slowly.

"The strongest brand I could get, and it's already sweetened," said Shino.

"Right. Make sure he stays away from the tents," she said, shaking her head. It was almost too cruel for words, but it would keep Naruto quiet for a few days.

Naruto cocked his head, but once he recognized the scent in the canister he looked at his cousin in surprise.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to have that anymore?"

"We're outside Konoha. It's not our problem. If anyone asks, the twins gave it to you."

"Yeah, they seem like the sort," nodded Naruto sagely. He recognized a prankster when he saw one.

He downed two cups, then went outside and waited for it to take effect.

They didn't have to wait long. Very quickly, there was a new type of screaming, and it wasn't from the civilians.

There was a reason why Naruto was banned from having coffee within the limits of Konoha.

Arthur Weasly watching in horror as a blond and orange blur devastated the Death Eaters. He went into the tent horrified and noted that a certain guest was missing.

He put two and two together, but he still had to confirm it.

"Please tell me that isn't..."

"It depends. Are you asking if that's Naruto, or are you asking if it's a new enemy?" asked Shino levelly.

"Right...what did the twins give him, despite my orders to not bring their pranks with them?"

"We _didn't_ bring anything dad!" complained Fred.

"_He_ did!" said George, pointing at Shino.

"I merely brought something to keep me awake. I lay no claim for it's whereabouts at this time," said Shino promptly.

"I would ask if he's alright, but at this point I think it's the Death Eaters who should be pitied," said Arthur. He had seen that look before, and it wasn't pretty.

It had been the time the twins had learned of a fizzy muggle drink called soda. Molly had banned it from ever entering the house twice.

Twenty minutes later, Anko dared to go outside the tent. And whistled at the destruction.

There was a very, very good reason Naruto was never allowed to drink coffee or sugar. And _never _at the same time. The effects alone were roughly the same as when Lee got drunk on a small cup of weak sake...only it was magnified a hundred times over. Naruto had been considerate enough to avoid most of the tents...but the place was almost leveled.

Nearly fifteen of the attackers were laid out groaning in absolute pain. After they were arrested, all they would say was it was a joke...but they would be screaming in fear whenever they saw the color orange.

Naruto was absolutely more terrifying than the Kyuubi whenever someone gave him coffee that was sweetened with pure sugar. Something Konoha (and the ANBU in particular) had learned the hard way when he was eight.

Fortunately for the village, the Third had managed to keep the devastation localized at the time...and Naruto respected him enough not to drink it within village limits again.

What the Hokage didn't know was that every time Shino and his team left village limits, Shino brought a canister of hot coffee with plenty of sugar. He always brought with him just in case. The one time he forgot it was the mission in Wave.

Though to be fair, Kurenai had asked him not to bring it. She didn't want Naruto accidentally destroying the bridge.

* * *

_ORANGE DEMON TAKES OUT DEATH EATERS! FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS AT THE WORLD CUP!_

Shino read the article with amusement. This was definitely going on his wall. Anko had kept a copy for herself.

Why, you ask?

There was a black and white photo of Naruto going ballistic on the Death Eaters, complete with his shadow clone technique. He didn't use any of his elemental tricks, but he sure gave them one hell of a beat down.

Every time he watched the photo he got the evil maniacal giggles.

Unfortunately, it made everyone on his team stay far from him...because he sounded disturbingly like Anko.

On the plus side, Sasuke ended up becoming good friends with Hermione Granger.

And it was pretty obvious that Ron Weasly was very jealous of that fact.

Ron didn't seem to realize that the new 'exchange students' were watching him closely. Sasuke in particular. His special sixth sense for stalkers kicked into overdrive whenever Ron was nearby.

The days dwindled until it was time to board the train.

Shino and the others had already gotten their supplies, including wands. Snape had made very sure to get their wands from Knockturn.

Ollivander would have added the tracers, which would have only given the Hokage a massive headache.

Despite the fact that Konoha was no where near the any Ministry building which could pick it up. Snape knew the shinobi would need anonymity, and as long as they didn't do anything too flashy, they could cast in public without the Ministry being up in arms about it.

Not like they would use magic in England anyway. Shinobi were more likely to use chakra and jutsu before falling back on their magic.

Dumbledore was still paranoid about red eyes.

He had a run in with Itachi, and they had words. Dumbledore had mistakenly believed Itachi was a foreign wizard on vacation...he was quickly corrected after trying to use legilmency on the shinobi.

Itachi wasn't too pleased about someone reading his mind, so he used his Mangekyo on the man...with the worst illusion he could possibly imagine. It had happened to him once, and he had made very sure it would never happen again.

It was rather amusing really. After this particular mission, the Hokage had it restricted to all female teams...unless one of the males happened to bat for the same team and then they were drafted as well.

The mission...was shopping with the two nosiest old biddies in the village. The two would gossip at the same spot for a good thirty minutes about the most boring things before moving on. It was labeled a D-rank because no sane Chunin would accept this unless his life depended on it. The old ladies would needle at whatever genin team got the short end of the senbon.

It was the most hated mission on the rosters...even more hated than the Tora Retrieval one, which was saying something considering it was the popular opinion of the village that the cat was a descendant of the two tailed demon cat. Or was a cat from hell. Depending on who you asked.

Dumbledore had been catatonic for a week after that, and he still had difficultly looking McGonagall in the eye.

* * *

Shino was in the compartment with his girlfriend. They had decided to take the cars one by one, with Sasuke and Anko by themselves. Shino and Naruto had landed the same compartment with their girlfriends to prevent misunderstandings more than anything.

It wasn't that they needed to, but it gave them an excuse to be alone. It wasn't like Hinata or Haku were complaining about it.

Halfway through the ride, Shino saw the door open. A blond boy with a pair of enforcers.

Shino could sense the twins around the corner. They were prepared to move should the blond try anything.

"And you are?"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," said the blond smugly.

"Aburame Shino. This is Momochi Haku."

Haku was pleased that all her friends introduced her with her former teacher's last name. It was her way of honoring Zabusa.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle."

"You're welcome to sit with us," said Shino.

It was quickly apparent that Draco was an example of pure blood beliefs. He had no opinions of his own, he merely parroted them without knowing why. The twins told them that Draco was practically a clone of his father. He was such a cowardly ferret that people wanted to hex him on sight.

It was Shino who made the twins laugh like hyenas though.

"He's not a ferret...he's a parrot."

Haku snickered.

"A what?" said Fred.

"A parrot. A tropical bird that can be trained to repeat words or phrases on command. Very pretty and flashy, but no real practical use."

"I've seen one before. Very...colorful."

"Would you say it was rather...flamboyant?" said Shino amused.

Haku was quick to catch onto what he was getting at.

"Indeed. Very flamboyant. Almost flashy in fact."

It took a few minutes for the twins to cotton on to the joke. Fred started snickering, then George.

"You're telling us you think he's..."

"He probably bats for the same team. He certainly acted like it," said Shino bluntly.

The twins were howling with laughter, but they were comparing what they knew of Draco Malfoy.

Unfortunately for the Slytherin, most of what they knew about him added to the fact that he batted for the same team.

* * *

"And now, I have a very special announcement to make! There are two special events happening this year at Hogwarts. For the first time in two hundred years, we will be hosting students from the Elemental Countries! Let's give them all a warm welcome!"

"Aburame, Shino!"

_How interesting! The boy-who-lived, a shinobi! And one of the more interesting ones._

Where do I go, Hat-san?

_With your bravery, I would say..._

**Gryffindor!**

"Hyuga, Hinata!"

_Such a loyal girl. The best place for you would be..._

**Hufflepuff!**

"Momochi, Haku!"

_Clever to a fault, and loyal to your friends? Where would you like to go? Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw? The Raven's have their own private library you know._

Which one was know for it's loyalty again?

**Hufflepuff!**

"Uchiha, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's fan girl radar went on overdrive the second the girls locked onto him. They had done the same with Shino and he had a feeling Naruto would be locked on as well. At least until they found out Shino and Naruto were already taken.

Well...Shino might still have a few stalkers once it got out that Shino's girlfriend didn't have issues with threesomes.

_Hello, hello, hello! I must say your brother is rather amusing to say the least._

My _brother_ was here?

_Put the old goat under an illusion. Funniest thing I've seen in years! Dumbledore still can't look McGonagall in the eye during staff meetings!_

I am so going to kill Shino.

_With your intelligence, you'd fit in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw._

...Which one is less likely to stalk me?

**Ravenclaw!**

"Uzumaki, Naruto!"

Naruto practically bounced up to the stool. A few people laughed at his bright attitude. Some stared at the orange he was wearing.

A few of the children who's parents he beat up gave him speculative looks. With that much orange, it was no wonder their fathers were still screaming about an orange demon.

If only they knew!

The hat wasn't even on Naruto for a moment when it yelled "**Gryffindor!**" loudly. Naruto bounded up to his cousin and sat between him and the twins.


	14. Chapter 14

Anko was bored. She had come ahead of the kiddies, which meant she had time to chat up Snape. She had shocked the hell out of the staff with the kiss she gave the man in front of the students.

It was so funny to see the looks on their faces! Even more so was the surprised look on Snape. Not that he was complaining about it mind you.

When Moody walked in, she grinned. She loved his style. Stopping that lightning was pure genius.

Since Shino and the others were of age back home, they were all qualified to enter the tournament that was coming up. They were the only ones under seventeen though.

Chances were good that they would be selected under the name of the new Academy that was going to be opened up later this year. If not, then it wouldn't matter.

They were only here to find good teachers for Konoha.

Once the outcry over the tournament was gone, the students went to bed.

Only to awaken the next morning with news that the Weasly twins, the undisputed prank kings of the school...had been thoroughly hit with pranks.

Somehow, someway, their beds collapse on them in the middle of the night and they ended up sleeping in wet sheets. Sheets that smelled suspiciously of ammonia.

Luckily it happened around five, so they weren't too badly off for it.

When the teachers investigated the occurrence, they found signs of termites. Big ones.

Where the bugs came from in a school made entirely of stone was a mystery. Plus termites normally couldn't survive in such cold weather.

Before Shino went to class, he passed by Snape who slipped three silver coins in his hand. He had paid Shino to prank the twins after six hellish years of dealing with them.

Shino wasn't above bribery, particularly in the case of a harmless prank.

It was Naruto who had gotten the twins to wet their beds. He had borrowed one of Shino's lightning bugs to give them a jolt. Shino wasn't surprised that the bugs listened to such a simple command.

As much time as he spent around Naruto, the bugs had learned he was friend. A few times Naruto even helped prank anyone who harmed one of Shino's hive. They were so used to his chakra signature that he could use one or two to prank people.

It wasn't much, but it was meant he was closer to the Aburame clan than most outsiders were.

* * *

Shino's first class was potions.

Something told him it would end very, very badly. Not only was the room colder than the outside, but the fumes alone would give him headaches.

It didn't help that Shino was barely passable at some forms of cooking.

It was a little known fact that insect hives tended to react badly to steam or fumes of any kind. Most of the cooking was done by the people who married into the clan, because they didn't have any insect hives in them. The Aburame clan married outside of it's own rather frequently, but none of the others had picked up on it.

Funny enough, none of the other clans had picked up how big the Aburame clan actually was. Shino had found it fascinating that the Aburame outnumbered the Hyuga (and previously the Uchiha as well) by a good two to one.

They were just spread out. A good third of the active members lived outside the village, mostly at the outposts gathering new insects to add to the family hives.

It was how they had gotten their hands on the Japanese Wasps.

Shino entered the dungeon, completely unafraid of the teacher. He had heard rumors of Snape from the Gryffindors. Snape was biased against them because of hazing he suffered during his school years.

After meeting Shino, Snape had dropped his anger towards the son of Potter, and instead viewed him as the son of Lily.

Snape nodded towards the front. He wanted an eye on the shinobi just in case. He wasn't an idiot, and he knew full well that most shinobi weren't used to brewing anything more complicated than poisons. And the only people who did more than that were Hinata and Haku, who were training to be medics.

But they had already admitted that they hadn't moved to antidotes yet.

Shino was not looking forward to this at all.

* * *

_**BOOM!**_

Shino had realized what was going to happen seconds before it did, and thanks to his reaction time (which was far above a civilian's) he was under the table long before the potion hit him.

His partner, however, was not as lucky. (Naruto had been far at the back, and wasn't hit by the potion at all.)

Ronald Weasly was hit full on by the potion, and was very lucky that Snape had the antidote.

Shino had avoided the brunt of the spill, but he was still getting dirty looks from the others.

"Mr. Aburame, see me after class."

"Yes sir."

"Care to explain what happened?"

"My insect hive...tends to react badly to fumes and cold sir. It's something everyone with a hive has. The larger the hive, the stronger the reaction. I think my wasps jolted my hand at the wrong time and caused the explosion."

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. This was worse than Longbottom, who only blew up one potion a week.

"Can you at least follow the instructions?"

"It's not the instructions that are the problem. It's the fumes and the temperature. What do you have in mind?"

"I have a problem case in the class, Neville Longbottom. He blows up a potion a week, but his partners rarely catch the mistake in time."

"And you want me to catch him before he makes the mistake."

"In exchange you don't have to brew any potions, but I still expect the essays."

"Fair enough. As long as my hive isn't exposed to the fumes from the cauldron, I can do prep work and tell him when to add it and how."

"We'll see how this works out. You're dismissed."

* * *

"How bad was it?"

"I explained the problem, and he's made an arrangement. If I keep Neville from blowing up his potions once a week, he won't give me detention. I still have to do the essays."

Ron stared at him in disbelief.

"How the bloody hell did you avoid detention? Snape always gives Gryffindors a detention and docks points if a potion blows up!"

"I explained in a clear and concise manner, and I gave him the proper respect without being told. People like Snape-sensei are usually bitter because people disrespect them unconsciously."

Ron still didn't get it, but Hermione did.

"Oh... Gryffindors always talk about him behind his back, and they never treat him like a teacher. I'm one of the few who ever gets anything higher than an Acceptable."

"Do you usually show him proper respect, even when his actions don't warrant it?"

"He's a teacher."

"And that is why he gives you the respect back. Snape knows that respect isn't given, its earned."

Hermione beamed at him. Shino knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Of course if nothing else I can throw you to Anko-sensei or Haku as a pincushion," said Shino dryly.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Anko-sensei is like Snape-sensei. Only she's much, much worse."

"Who can be worse than Snape?" said Ron in disbelief.

Shino stopped cold, and looked at him in amusement.

"Anko's favorite method of dealing with idiots is dropping them in a forest that is full of gigantic snakes, massive tigers, and bugs the size of the greenhouses. All of them big enough to make humans snacks. And that's just for fun."

"What about those who get her mad?"

"She has a game called 'how many times can I make you bleed with my pet snakes'. The only problem is that she sometimes forgets that her snakes are poisonous."

Ron stared at him in disbelief.

"How do you know this, Shino-san?" asked Hermione.

"You know the honorific at this point is 'kun', right?"

"Respect is given not earned?" she reminded him.

"...Point. Anyway I know this because I happen to be one of the few people who can stand to be around her for long periods of time without running for my life. I happen to share the same love of snakes she does, so that helps a lot."

"Snakes...ugh."

"Hey, I don't complain about your personal hygiene issues gaki."

Hermione looked at Shino with interest.

"'Personal Hygiene Issues?'"

"He hasn't showered, brushed his teeth or even his hair. And there was the way he ate his breakfast this morning."

"HEY!"

"Ron, if you don't believe me ask Naruto. He has a very, very good sense of smell."

Naruto, who happened to be passing at the moment, caught wind of Ron and tried not to gag.

"See?"

"Herbology is next," said Hermione, changing the subject.

After four years, she had actually overlooked Ron's morning hygiene issues. More out of embarrassment than anything else.

* * *

Shino was looking forward to this class. He loved the outdoors, and it meant he could debate with Neville over which insects were best for plants.

Neville was a plant prodigy, which meant he would get along fine with Shino.

Shino got to work with little prompting. Shino often helped Naruto growing plants in the spare apartment.

Naruto was right beside Neville, debating compost types. The fact the exchange student was beside him and loved gardening as much as he did cheered him up after the potions lesson.

They earned looks of approval from Professor Sprout, and to Shino's surprise were slated for extra work that the teacher normally gave to her 'Puffs.

Neville was one of her special students, making up for his lack of potions grade with Professor Sprout. His grandmother had been rather pleased when she heard about his knack for plants.

Naruto actually loved plants, and it was thanks to Shino that they never fell prey to insects that could devour them.

"What class is next?" asked Naruto.

"I have Ancient Runes. What did you take?"

"Divination."

Neville winced.

"Professor Trelawny might predict your death."

Naruto puffed up his chest.

"Comes with the job description."

"Neville, were the rumors true about the incense, by any chance?"

"It reeks in her class, yeah. Why?"

"Naruto, we need to pay a visit to Hinata. The last thing you need is to be knocked out by overpowering scents."

"Like I wasn't almost knocked out by Ron this morning?" commented Naruto amused.

Luckily, Hinata had the same class as Naruto, so she was able to block their noses.

Shino's observation skills ended up saving Naruto from being carried to the Hospital wing...where Haku was chatting up the nurse for an entire period.

Since Haku was interested in the medical field, she had asked for lessons in healing with the nurse. Madam Pomphrey was all too happy to oblige, once she saw the girl's skill with what she thought was Chinese holistic medicine.

She actually believed the senbon were strictly for acupuncture. The girl wasn't about to break her pretty illusion.

* * *

Ron was not a happy camper. The exchange kids were all people would talk about, and Dumbledore had hinted heavily that one of them was Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived.

Ron was very, very determined to befriend the boy if only to leech off his fame. The only issue was that the new kids wanted nothing to do with him. They always seemed to know whenever he was within fifty feet of them. It was maddening! Plus the sunglasses kid was really creepy, even if he shared Ron's fear of spiders.

He had seen the look the kid had given the ones in potions before he blew up the cauldron. The glare was pretty obvious, even if he couldn't actually _see_ it at the time.

"Do you need something Ron-san?" asked Shino.

"Is it alright if I borrow your homework?"

Shino gave him a look.

"Ron-san, unless you can read Kanji or katakana, my homework would be of absolutely no use to you. Same for Naruto."

"But you speak perfect English!"

"I learned English when I was five out of boredom. The others, aside from Naruto, are relying on a translation charm until they can speak it without one."

Ron tried a different tactic.

"Can you help me steal Hermione's then? I promise I won't tell anyone you're afraid of spiders."

"...Afraid of spiders. Where in the nine hells did you get _that_ idea?" Shino asked in disbelief.

"The glare you gave that spider we had to chop up was pretty obvious."

"Ron-san, I am not afraid of spiders. I just don't like them. I have a similar distaste towards bats and frogs, but that doesn't mean I'm _afraid _of the things."

"Prove it then. Go into the Acromantula nest in the forest and bring back something from their nest."

"And what exactly makes you think I would waste my time doing that?"

Ron sneered. He didn't like Aburame, who had the prettiest girl in the school for a girlfriend and was on Snape's good side. Plus he was a borderline snake in the waiting.

"Do it or I'll put you on the twin's prank list."

Shino raised an eyebrow, which went over his sunglasses. Something told him that if he didn't give into the dare, then Ron might become a real pain in the ass later. He might even resort to stealing.

"Fine, but you will owe me a hundred galleons if I succeed."

"Deal!"

"I want that in writing gaki."

Ron paled, but agreed anyway. Shino handed him a piece of paper and Ron's magical signature was put on it without the boy noticing. There was no way in hell Ron was getting out of this.

Once informed of the bet, Anko insisted on giving Shino a pass into the forest under the guise of getting ingredients for Snape. He wasn't going to get into any trouble because of some stupid civilian.

Shino had already amused her by giving her the wizard's equivalent of a mission request, one that Ron would have to pay for if Shino succeeded in his task. Ron never specified _what_ Shino would have to retrieve...so he was going to have some fun with it.

* * *

Shino walked past the centaurs, giving them a nod of respect. They were surprised, but didn't ask what he was doing in the forest during a full moon.

Shino did pause to ask where the nest was, and a centaur named Bane gave him directions.

He continued on his way...and found the largest spiders he had ever seen in his life.

He looked for the third largest one he could find, and paralyzed with a genjutsu. Then he put it in a sealing scroll and walked out...after convincing the massive spiders he wasn't worth eating.

Aragog was not happy to hear that a good half of his colony was taken out by a single fourteen year old kid with insects.

Ron was waiting with Moody and Anko when Shino returned. The two teachers were there to witness the bet's completion and to keep Ron from living up to the family name.

He wasn't going to _weasel_ out of this one.

Shino took out the scroll, laid it out flat, and unsealed it. The spider came out rather pissed, and looking to kill something.

Ron screamed like a little girl and fainted dead on the floor.

Hearing the scream, McGonagall (who had to do rounds in that particular corridor) came in concerned. She saw the spider, her lion and Shino and then looked at the two defense professors.

Shino was quick to take out the spider, and he did it with relish. He hated the things.

"What in blazes is going on here?"

"Weasly here challenged the gaki to retrieve something from the Forest...and freaked out when Shino came back and proved he had done it," said Anko, cleaning her fingernails with a kunai.

Shino handed McGonagall the contract, and her mouth thinned. It was very binding and it had Ron's signature. There was nothing she could do about it.

She looked at Shino.

"You might want to warn your friends to cover their ears in the morning. Molly is sure to send a Howler once she hears of this."

"Howler?"

"A letter that screams at you in the voice of the sender," McGonagall clarified.

"Ah...Are there any objections to us eating in the kitchens?"

"No."

"I will see you at lunch then."


	15. Chapter 15

The rumor mill worked overtime once the students heard about Shino's bet with Ron. It didn't help Ron's case when his mother sent a very irate Howler the morning after. Apparently she was furious he had accepted a bet with such a large monetary loss attached to it.

Draco found it hilarious, and had congratulated Shino for the prank.

Things were relatively quiet for the most part. Everyone was looking forward to October when the Tournament began.

To Snape and Shino's relief, the partnership with Neville seemed to more or less work out. Now Neville only blew up his cauldron once a month, instead of every other week. Shino always double checked the instructions before Neville added the ingredients, and the nervous boy was the one who stirred. As a result of this odd partnership, Neville helped the shinobi with their herbology homework.

They weren't used to magical plants.

Anko had made a very big impression on the students during the first day.

Particularly on the Slytherins, who had already figured out that Snape and the DADA were trying to pursue a relationship. While Moody scared them with his knowledge of the Dark Arts and the years under his belt defeating those who used them, Anko terrified them by being herself.

She would sneak up on people, drop harmless snakes on those who back talked her, and exhibited her usual degree of bloodlust while speaking to the students.

Despite that, DADA was easily the new favorite class of the students. If only because it was so interesting. The twins had actually gotten on Anko's good side by applauding her snake pranks.

And actually managing to prank her once or twice, despite being civilians.

And just like that, October rolled in.

* * *

"Remind me again why we're wearing these...bath robes?" asked Shino.

"Dumbledore wanted us to pretend we're regular students, even though we're clearly exchange students," Haku patiently reminded him.

She was mostly unaffected by the sudden drop in temperature, but she was the only one who wasn't wearing double layers every day.

Well, double layers and a warming charm, courtesy of Fred and George. It was probably the fastest the shinobi had every learned anything. Including Naruto's record for mastering the shadow clone.

Naruto had learned his lesson when it came to Divination. Make a shadow clone go. He had one sub for Hinata as well, after Trelawny spooked her by saying she would die by the end of the year.

Naruto had come very close to strangling the woman for scaring his girlfriend like that.

Shino wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable. Naruto kept fidgeting, and was talking to the twins in a low voice. McGonagall didn't seem to notice.

Shino originally wasn't going to wear the robes to this little event...but after giving Dumbledore his ultimatum ("If you want me to wear those ridiculous things you'll have to put them on me yourself. I am _not_ wearing them!") Dumbledore had hexed him from behind and transfigured his clothes before Shino could break the spell.

To say he had been pissed that he couldn't take them off for the rest of the day would be an understatement. And he wasn't the only one who had gotten hit with the evil spell. Naruto and Sasuke had gotten nailed with it too.

Shino could only amuse himself with his plans for revenge...which would be swift in coming. And he would enlist the twins to make it worse.

Only a coward attacks from behind like Dumbledore had. When Anko heard about the incident, she had offered her assistance in making the old man's life a living hell.

Suddenly Shino looked up and to the west. He heard...horses?

He wasn't the only one looking that way, but the shinobi were the first to see the Beauxbatons carriages arrive. Their attention was quickly diverted to the lake, when they heard something akin to a drain.

A derelict ship appeared from the center, and stopped a hundred feet from the shore. Heavily built boys a few years older than the shinobi came out.

Shino could appreciate their clothing choice, and planned to get a new fur lined jacket of his own later.

England was freezing for him.

Once they were inside, Shino was very amused to see Sasuke squirm. Beside him was clearly someone with Veela blood, because all the straight males were gawking at her.

She seemed impressed that Sasuke wasn't staring at her ass or bust, because she eventually struck up a conversation with him. Once it was clear she had a brain, Sasuke tried to relax.

Ron was acting like a bigger idiot than usual, because he didn't even look the girl in the eye when she asked for some French pudding. The look of loathing she gave at his table manners gave Shino amusement.

To the delight of Naruto, Anko had insured that he had fifty bowls of ramen to himself. And his favorite flavor at that!

The twins were currently taking bets on whether he would be able to finish it all and still have room for dessert. Shino was laying heavy bets that he would...he knew how Naruto loved ramen. Plus he already saw that Anko had an entire platter of dango to herself.

Snape had been very amused (almost to the point of laughing out loud) when Professor Vector tried to take a few from the plate.

Snape didn't like the woman, who had tormented him in Slytherin back when he was in school. She disliked him because he rubbed her the wrong way.

So yes, Snape took clear enjoyment at the look Vector was giving Anko for nearly driving an empty dango stick into her hand.

(It was actually a rule in Konoha. Touch Anko's dango, and you were on your own. If you ended up dead it was your own damn fault.)

Once the food was gone (Shino having won the bet with the twins, not that they were complaining. Naruto had better table manners than Ron, which was a shock in itself.) Dumbledore brought out the item that would select the champions.

It was an old cup, a goblet to be precise, and it was filled with flames. Shino wasn't impressed.

Dumbledore didn't mention the only exemption from the Age Line were the exchange students (the requirement was that you had to be of age, and since the team _was_ of age back home they qualified).

As it was, the age line wouldn't go into effect until after the shinobi had placed their names in the cup. Anko would guard it until that point.

They did it right after dinner let out, and went to bed.

* * *

By morning the robes Dumbledore had forced the boys to put on were shredded beyond all recognition, and plans were being made to make his life hell until the champions were selected.

It was unclear whether the shinobi would be selected under Hogwarts (which was unlikely but possible) or under Konohagakure (which was the more likely chance).

Ron had at least learned his lesson about challenging the newcomers. He had left Naruto alone after learning the twins had considered him a valued accomplice, and the three were often pranking together. Sasuke was always avoiding him along with the new fan girls, who were attracted to his 'dark mystique'. Shino was relieved that the boy avoided him like the plague to avoid being reminded of the dept, which he was only going to hold Ron to if he angered him enough.

Ron didn't go near the girls, mostly out of fear of their boyfriends who would kill him in his sleep. (And he was absolutely correct. If he had tried to go after either of the girls, Naruto and Shino would kill him without a second thought. It wasn't like they didn't know how to hide the body.)

For the next week, students came and dropped their names. Some, like the Weasly Twins, attempted to bypass the age line with a potion.

Shino was the one to point out that they had gone about it the wrong way. And then redirected them to Anko.

She dropped their names in, after being appropriately bribed with fire whiskey. Moody kept confiscating it from her for some reason. Eventually she had given up drinking whenever he was around.

* * *

Once the week was over, Shino waited with the rest for the selections to begin. They were curious as to which school they would be labeled under.

The names were selected. Viktor Krum, Fluer Delacour (the girl with Veela blood), George Weasly (who looked amused that Shino's suggestion had actually _worked_) were all selected.

Finally, a fourth slip came out. Fortunately the other headmasters were warned about this.

"Aburame Shino!"

Shino walked to the side door where the others had gone. So they were going to be representing Konoha instead of Hogwarts. He could live with that.

It wasn't until later that he heard about the fifth name. One that had caused no end of confusion.

And had him annoyed beyond belief. Someone had entered his birth name and had confused the goblet into spitting it out. Luckily for him, he was already entered in the tournament legally.

The Gryffindors were still wrapping their heads around the fact that Shino was entered in the tournament, despite being an exchange student. It took four times for them to get it through their heads.

Fortunately they weren't about to ostracize the shinobi, for three important reasons. One was that Shino was completely up front and honest about the fact that they were allowed to enter because back home they _were_ of age. Two was the fact that since they had shown up, Snape had toned down his insults and point deductions to the point where people didn't hate him on sight anymore. For the first time in years since Snape was hired, Gryffindor was holding it's own against Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

The third (and most important reason in the minds of many) was Anko. No one wanted to complain about such a minor problem of Shino being allowed to enter the tournament because of his age around her. It was a well known fact by this point that she favored him, and no sane person was willing to piss her off.

She had already demonstrated her favorite game of 'How many times can I make you bleed with my poisonous snakes' on ten Slytherin sixth and seventh years. Two of which were Prefects.

It was only because Haku had been forewarned by Shino to carry the usual antidotes that they had survived the incident.

After that no one wanted to piss her off. Even if she had been reprimanded by Dumbledore for the act.

(Not that that would stop her from doing it again. Snape was their client, not the headmaster.)

* * *

It was George who learned what the first task was, and that only by accident. Charlie, the second oldest Weasly child, visited his brothers during lunch. It hadn't taken ten minutes for George to figure out that the first task involved dragons.

(Sasuke was rather eager to meet Charlie, mainly because he was interested in how to procure a dragon egg. Like all Uchiha, Sasuke was a bit of a pyromaniac. Shino was too, but he hid that fact better.)

Upon learning that, Shino had decided to go the unconventional route.

Depending on what the task was, he was going to use illusions. Though if the opportunity came and he could steal a dragon (or better yet an egg) he was going to take it.

If it did involve eggs, he was going to take three. One for him, Sasuke...and one for Hagrid. The man had told him with some teary eyes about the baby dragon he had been forced to give up because of the laws. Shino rather liked the man, who had accidentally learned about Shino's hive and hadn't freaked out.

Shino had offered to help get him set up in Konoha, where no one would really complain about a dragon unless it went on a rampage. They had seen stranger things. Hagrid had been torn between loyalty to Dumbledore and acceptance in a place he had never been.

But it was the fact that he would be allow to finally get a new wand and keep a dragon that sealed the deal. For years Hagrid had to suffer problems because he was half giant. Most people wouldn't overtly make his life hard, but it was still there. He just tried to ignore it.

Plus he could teach the shinobi about magical creatures and not have to worry about them getting killed because of his penchant for dangerous beasts. Finding out that Shino and his team were well used to such things had been such a relief that Hagrid would cheerfully debate the more dangerous breeds with them. Seeing Anko's summons had been interesting for the man, because he didn't flinch at their size or the fact they could talk.

That alone had put him in their good books. Which was the only reason Shino had offered to help him move to Konoha. His love of animals would help him get along with the Inuzuka and Nara clans, while his sheer size would endear him to the Akamichi clan. The fact he didn't mind people with insect hives in their bodies would put him on the Aburame's good side.

That was why Shino was considering stealing three eggs instead of two.

Somehow, Shino had the sneaking suspicion Hagrid would attempt to make one of the large Fire country tigers his pet. It would be amusing if that actually happened.

* * *

Shino reached into the bag, and drew out the Horntail. He wasn't very happy that he would be last. He just wanted it to be over with.

George got to go out first, and Shino watched through his lightning bugs how he did. He had to admit, using those fireworks was rather clever. Next was Krum. Shino winced when he saw the dragon crush the eggs. Fleur was after him, and he was very impressed at how calm she was putting out that small fire on her robe.

Finally it was his turn. He was going to use a mass genjutsu to fool the crowd and hopefully the dragon. He didn't want to hurt the beast if he could help it.

To his relief, the genjutsu worked. Though not exactly as he had planned.

The dragon had hissed at him, very annoyed, and to Shino's surprise he had understood it. Though the accent alone was a bit hard to make out.

_Stupid human, do you think such a trick would fool one such as me?_

Shino blinked. He adjusted the illusion to cover sounds. As far as the crowds knew, he was ducking flames.

"_My apologies. I was unaware a noble creature such as yourself would be unaffected by my illusions. Manda-sama did not have much information on your kind, I'm afraid."_

The dragon blinked.

_You know that old serpent Manda?_

"_I am a snake summoner, despite the fact that my body is full of deadly insects."_

_What do you want kid?_

"_I merely wish to remove the fake egg from the nest...and possibly rescue three of the real ones from the Wizard's control."_

The dragon gave him a long look, before replying _Take the fake one and the ones closest to me. The others are going to die anyway, since they've been in the cold for so long. I've managed to save four of them with my flames, but the rest are doomed._

"_Thank you, Madame. I will keep the wizards from harming the four you have saved."_

_Raise them well, little summoner._

Shino walked up to the nest, and took the four eggs the dragon had indicated. They were warm to the touch. His hive couldn't sense any life from the rest.

He put the eggs in a sealing scroll, where they would be put in suspended animation until he brought them out. Since the scroll had been made in Konoha during the hottest part of summer, the eggs would be in the humid climate as well. It would keep them alive until he returned to Konoha and hatched them.

The only ones who saw what he did were his team, and that only because he had warned them about the genjutsu. They had heard the entire exchange (well, they guessed what Shino had said to the dragon, since it was in snake tongue) and waited until Shino altered his illusion to make it appear as though he was approaching the nest.

By the time he was in the tent, the crowd believed he had ducked and dodged past the dragon to retrieve the egg. No one was even paying attention to the fact that four of them were missing.

The handlers wouldn't even realize that problem until after they took the dragons back. They chalked the error to Krum's mistake and moved on.

* * *

The party in the Gryffindor tower set Shino's teeth on edge. It was only his years of exposure to Naruto and the pink banshee that kept his hive in check. And that only because he was trying his best to keep the hive under control.

The wasps were particularly testy today.

It was when George opened his egg that things really got dangerous. Shino was very, very glad of his iron control over his hive, because the shriek that was emitted from the egg nearly caused the wasps to break free and harm the students.

"Dear kami, I thought the Pink Banshee's harping was bad..."muttered Shino. Naruto nodded in complete agreement.

People looked at Shino, as if urging him to open his egg as well.

Shino decided to go another route.

He went to bed early.

* * *

_What Shino and Co did to Dumbledore for being forced to wear robes..._

Dumbledore scratched heartily. He seemed to have developed fleas, though he was damned as to were he caught them. McGonagall always took care of them if she accidentally got them, and that only happened if she forgot to cast a spell she had learned years ago after mastering her animagi transformation. He didn't own any animals that could actually _give_ him fleas.

And there was the almost impossible to ignore itch on his back. Further investigation revealed that he had acquired ticks, large ones, as well as fleas.

Then there was his bed. For a month straight, his bed collapsed in on itself from termite damage. Every ward he placed was walked around.

He also had various odd symptoms that Madam Pomphrey was hard pressed to get rid off. One of her scans revealed that he had somehow contracted a yeast infection of all things, which caused all the female staff to avoid him like the plague. He also had pink eye, though he had no idea how to treat it.

It seemed someone was giving him random muggle ailments that no magical potion could cure.

He had to leave the school repeatedly to pick up remedies at a muggle drug store.

The only problem was that most of the remedies required a doctor's prescription, and he couldn't get one because he had no records in the muggle world.

So he played a hit-and-miss game with various prescription drugs. So far he was winning, but it was becoming rather difficult to get the medicine he needed with the increased security at the store.

Eventually it stopped, but not before he found a warning delivered courtesy of the sorting hat. It was rather smug, which annoyed him to no end.

The accursed piece of enchanted fabric had found his suffering amusing, and had adopted an 'I-told-you-so' attitude.

"I have been asked to inform you that should you attempt to hex the exchange group from behind again, they will retaliate three times worse than before, and this time they won't hold back. Anko in particular has mentioned something about giant snakes in your tub if there is a repeat."

Dumbledore shuddered. He had caught sight of Anko's larger snakes, and they were easily bigger than the basilisk that was trapped in the Chamber.

It was only pure luck that they had found Ginny before she had gotten killed by that curse diary.


	16. Chapter 16

Shino had enlisted the aid of his girlfriend and Hinata to find out what the clue was for the next task. He had figured out very quickly that he wouldn't be able to open the egg, even in an enclosed room, without setting off his entire hive. Whatever frequency the egg was on, it upset the insects to the point where Shino had great difficultly keeping them in check.

It practically whipped them into a killing frenzy. Hyped up to the point where they were overpowered he could live with, whipped into a killing frenzy where he had almost no control over them was unacceptable.

Which was why he gave the egg to Haku and begged her to find a way to hear the clue.

She had accepted the challenge, and three days after being given the egg found the clue by accident.

She had started to keep the egg on her to keep the Slytherins from getting any ideas of opening it around Shino, even to the point of taking it to the bathroom with her.

She had accidentally dropped it into the large bath (she had bribed Cedric for the password into the prefect's baths, and had taken to swiping it whenever she got the chance) she dove to retrieve it...only to hear the strangest melody.

It hadn't taken her and Hinata long to figure out that the clue was the lake, and that it would involve the mermaid colony that lay in the center of it.

Shino had never been more grateful for his animagus form than that moment.

* * *

Shino was bored. And while bored his mind went back to the odd reaction people had during the 'Weighing of the Wands' ceremony. Snape had been rather displeased when Shino had been forced to leave class early. Luckily Neville's proficiency in potions had improved to the point where he kept his cauldron from blowing up without Shino to help him.

His potion was useless, but at least he hadn't blown it up like usual.

Ollivander had looked at Shino with something akin to disapproval, probably because he knew where the boy got his wand. Just because Snape had taken them to a Dark Alley didn't mean his wand was illegal.

Besides, Shino had heard from Snape that Dumbledore had specially ordered the boy-who-lived's wand the year before he was to attend the school.

Inside the core was a tail feather from the man's phoenix, and Shino didn't want to think of the control the man could have had on his magic.

It was bad enough that Dumbledore's particular magic had screwed up his chakra and magic control until he was able to get rid of it.

On the plus side, he had had to learn how to separate opposing elements by necessity. So the migraine he had to deal with wasn't a total loss.

"Eleven inches, Ebony and yew with the wing membrane of a moth demon as the core."

"Mothra isn't a demon. Just a divine insect that happened to be as big as Hogsmeade," Shino said blandly.

The others stared at him. Shino found it hilarious that his wand had a piece of _Mothra_ inside of it, though he was rather curious as to where the woman had gotten it. It was highly possible that it wasn't a piece of Mothra, but rather the cocoon that the insect slept in.

After that, an odd woman named Rita dragged him into a small closet for an interview.

Shino had to fight the temptation to destroy the quill she used, though clearly Rita had never encountered an Aburame before.

Shino had employed the traditional Aburame Wall of Silent Observation, something he had spent years learning from his father and clan. He was only vocal around Naruto or his team, outside of that, you were lucky to get a word in five.

Rita yammered on, attempting to get him to talk, only to get Shino's rather silent unblinking stare in return. She had been so creeped out by that trick, that she hadn't come near him again.

Anko and the others had found that rather amusing.

Shino decided to hit the library. He already had a plan of action. He would water walk to the center, drop his chakra control and go underwater about five feet, then transform and grab his hostage.

His hive could live under five feet of water, though the question was whether it would survive the sudden drop in temperature.

If he was lucky one of the wasps would die off, and the rest would leave his body only to drown. It would be quick, painless, and he wouldn't feel guilty about their destruction.

As it was, once Shino got back to Konoha he was relinquishing his wasp hive. Even he knew his own limits.

He ended up greeting a bizarre sight.

Sasuke was sitting with Hermione Granger, cheerfully chatting like old friends. Shino had to blink at the sight.

Sasuke _never_ associated with the opposite sex, except Sakura and that was under extreme protest! To see him with a girl and not trying to run away was...surprising.

If this continued it was likely Sasuke would date the girl, who was definitely a better match for him than most of the females back home. Hermione saw Sasuke for himself, and she had lost her fan girl tendencies two years ago. She was intelligent, resourceful, and she had a good head on her shoulders. The only downside was that she wasn't a shinobi, but that could be fixed in a few years.

Haku was once a civilian, and look where she was now! A Chunin on the fast track to making Jounin before she was seventeen.

Shino noted the silent crowd, and went to join them.

"So any plans for this weekend?" asked Haku. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and the two girls usually went shopping with Hermione and another named Luna if they hadn't already made plans.

"I was thinking Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes and seeing where Itachi and Kisame made the biggest impression," said Shino back.

Haku had laughed for an hour when she heard about how people reacted to her _uncle_. Shino still couldn't believe she called the Shark nin Uncle in the first place, but after Haku explained about the Seven Swordsmen he had understood.

At least Kisame approved of him. Chances were high that once Itachi finished his undercover assignment he would bring Kisame back with him. If only for the entertainment value he wrought.

Haku nodded. Shinobi didn't really do much on dates aside from talk and enjoy the peace. It had to do with coming from such a military background, though that never meant they didn't have fun. It just meant their idea of fun and a civilian's were slightly skewed.

It wasn't like they couldn't nick some alcohol. That always proved entertaining.

(Shino was a fun drunk, though after seeing Lee using his drunken fist he had learned to only lose control among those who wouldn't completely embarrass themselves. So far that group only had Sasuke and Naruto in it.)

Shino's musing was cut short right as Hermione snuck a kiss on Sasuke. The boy's gobsmacked look would amused Shino and the others for weeks to come, particularly since the two ended up holding hands after that.

He noted Ron's look, and grinned. Ron never had a chance with Hermione. He just didn't know it.

He had a plan to bring Hermione and her parents to the village. It was brilliant in it's simplicity.

They just had to use jutsu in front of her, and unlock her chakra coils. Once she water walked for the first time, she would be hooked. Sasuke would most likely get the same idea, and having Hermione as a girlfriend would easily appeal to him.

It wasn't like the Elders would complain...he was bringing in new blood, the same as Shino. And he would be able to bring in a new profession.

Hermione had mentioned her parent's jobs as dentists, and had been properly horrified when Sasuke mentioned that they didn't have any in Konoha.

Sure, they had doctors who could prescribe pain medication and knock out a tooth with a little accuracy, but there wasn't anyone who specialized in taking care of the problem before it got to the point where the tooth needed to be removed.

Quite a few of the older civilians would definitely appreciate dentures, as Hermione had called them.

* * *

It turned out that Haku was the one taken. Shino had expected it to be either her or Naruto. Either way, his plan remained the same.

Shocking the judges, he dropped from the platform, feet first, and stopped right before he hit the water. The students below the platform were there to witness Shino stopping before he even got wet. He calmly walked into the center of the lake, where Hinata had spotted the mermaid colony.

She had taken to practicing her shark form in the cold temperatures, since the soap in the baths hurt her eyes. It still amused Shino that she had gotten a shark of all things.

Then again, after reading up on the great white (and by extension their ancient cousins the Megalodon) he understood. Sharks have a special eye that allows them to see almost everything, down to electrical currents in the water. It was the animal equivalent of the Byakugan, only without the Gentle Fist to take out the target without damaging them too badly.

If anything, those teeth were the exact opposite of the Hyuga gentle fist. The serrated edges alone were designed to shred prey, and Hinata had shown him the multiple rows of teeth to replace any that were damaged.

Shino had easily gained a whole new respect for Kisame, Haku's uncle. Though he found the bit about sharks being repelled often by dolphins hilarious. He could easily see that tidbit becoming an ongoing joke among the chunin, since Iruka's name meant 'dolphin'.

About two thirds of the way in, Shino allowed his chakra to drop him into the lake.

George had mentioned he couldn't swim that well, and Shino wasn't going to leave the poor boy hanging. He shifted into his basilisk form, and went in search of George.

* * *

George Weasly was having a tough time. His mother had given them the most basic of swimming lessons, and that had barely covered diving. A quick bubble head charm kept him from drowning but that was it.

He really didn't think he would make it to the center of the lake within the time limit.

Suddenly, he felt a cold chill go down his back. He swiveled...and came face to face with his own death. It was a giant snake, and the eyes were as cold as a doll's eyes, only they had a slit in the middle of them. A single emerald green...wait a minute.

George released the breath he had been holding. There weren't any snakes in the world with emerald green eyes like that. He still pissed his pants at the sight of the snake though.

Any thoughts of that serpent being there to eat him went out the window when he saw the amused look in it's eyes. He had caught a glimpse of Shino's eyes once, and they were the exact same shade of green that snake had.

The snake swam up beside him...and hovered there. It's message was obvious, grab a spike and hold on.

The two went deep into the center of the lake...and George didn't let go until they were right at the hostages. Shino had noted that the French girl had gotten caught, and gone back above. He didn't think she would make a second attempt.

The mermaid looked rather annoyed when he used his fangs to saw through the ropes. And was very angry when he went to retrieve the other female there.

George held onto his brother and used the ropes to secure the French girl and Haku to Shino. Then he grabbed a spike with his free hand and held on. They missed the misshapen shark completely.

Gasps of shock and horror were heard when Shino surfaced. The second Haku came out, she coughed up the lake water and undid the ropes.

Shino gestured to the French girl, and Haku took the hint. She water walked to the shore, keeping the girl above water. Fred and George held onto Shino so they wouldn't run out of energy halfway back.

Shino slithered onto the shore, and shifted back. His coils seemed to double in on themselves, and he thoroughly enjoyed the look of disbelief on the judges faces.

"What's my score?" he asked amused.

Fred and George were shivering, and only Haku wasn't wearing a blanket.

Fluer thanked him profusely for rescuing her sister Gabrielle, and to Haku's annoyance she even gave him a kiss.

Shino noted a beetle in Haku's hair, and reached out to grab it.

"How did this get there?"

He put it in the special container he carried everywhere. The thing chittered rather furiously, as if angry about something. Rather unusual.

Shino had the best score, despite the fact he didn't swim like he was supposed to. The fact that he had assisted fellow champions didn't hurt his score either.

* * *

After the task, Shino got a letter from home.

His mother was going to have his little sister (they had checked) within a week. There wasn't any chance in hell he was missing that! So he wrote back, and set up a time for Naruto to summon a toad and reverse summon them to Konoha. Just for the day.

Minato would summon them home, but Anko would summon them back through the snakes. She would do it a few days before the Ball.

Minato summoned the toad Naruto was inside, and greeted the boys amused. Naruto had finally started to be able to hang out with him, if only for a few hours. But outside of that he wanted nothing to do with the man.

He still had no idea why the former Fourth Hokage even wanted to be around him, unless it was out of a sense of guilt.

Shino immediately went to see his parents, and found Shibi trying to avoid his wife.

Shino's mother had forgotten what it was like to be pregnant. Shino had never been more thankful for silence wards. The screaming would have sent his hive into a real frenzy.

Three hours after coming home, Shibi undid the wards. Shino and Naruto went in. Shino's mother was holding a brand new baby girl, who was wrapped loosely in a warm pink blanket.

"What's her name?" asked Naruto. Shibi gently handed the infant over to the boy, who held the baby with uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Yuri. Yuri Aburame," said Shibi.

"Pretty name," said Shino.

"It was your mother's idea. It's in honor of your birth mother," said Shibi.

Naruto carefully handed over the infant to Shino, who held her carefully. The little girl cracked open her eyes and Shino smiled. He had a little sister to take care of, and there wasn't a question in Shibi's mind that the two were going to spoil her rotten.

Shino got a picture of his new baby sister, and prepared to head back. But not before he made a request to Tsunade.

He had seen the look in Naruto's eyes, one he had seen far too often since Shibi had formally adopted him into the clan. Naruto was desperate to know of his parents, but it had been deemed an S class secret by the Third Hokage.

* * *

"What can I do for you brat?" asked Tsunade. It was only them inside the room.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a special request to make."

"What?"

"I would like permission to tell Naruto about his birth parents. Sarutobi-sama forced me into secrecy about the matter after I accidentally figured it out. I think it's past time he knew."

Tsunade looked at him, hard. She knew the kid's birth parents, and she agreed with him fully. If he didn't know about his parents, then it was high time he learned the truth. He had already proven old enough to know of the Kyuubi, even if the way it came out wasn't ideal.

"Fine, but do it outside Konoha. I don't want it getting out before I make it official later next year."

"Deal. I was planning on doing at the school anyway. Fewer prying ears."

"Go."

* * *

Shino prepared the snake summon. Manda was going to drop them off personally, for the prank he played on everyone during the second task. He had thought it downright hilarious!

(Shino didn't tell him, but George really _had_ pissed himself when he appeared. Fred found that fact amusing as hell.)

Anko was already preparing to summon. She had a smaller snake ready to hiss when they were in.

Snape was interested in the whole idea, and was with her.

"Summoning Jutsu: snake!"

Manda appeared, and Shino walked into his mouth with Naruto. They had a few things from the other genin for the team. Once they were safely in (and not being swallowed) Manda vanished...and reappeared back at Hogwarts. Shino and Naruto walked out to a shell shocked Snape and a cackling Anko.

"That is a big serpent."

"This is Manda, lord of the summon snakes," said Shino.

Manda was about to leave when he paused. His nose caught whiff of a scent he hadn't caught in years.

"_Are you aware there is a basilisk nearby? A fairly big one too, by the scent of it,"_ said Manda.

"A basilisk? Must be a Greek one then. I didn't see any evidence of one in the lake."

Snape groaned. He had a good idea where the damn thing was too.

"Oh dear lord...that damn thing must still be down there," said Snape.

Shino and Anko looked at him.

"You knew there was a snake and you didn't say anything?"

"It's safely contained inside the second floor girl's bathroom. Myrtle is guarding the entrance in case the damn thing gets out so we'll have some warning."

Shino grinned. Here was the perfect present for Anko! He had actually been considering making homemade dango as a present, but this was even better.

* * *

"Haku, do me a favor and guard the bathroom while I retrieve Anko's present."

Shino went inside the bathroom. Myrtle only kept an eye in case the snake got out. She never said she would keep someone with the ability to open the door out.

Haku distracted the ghostly girl by chatting about the differences in water while Shino located the entrance. After learning of the Greek basilisk, he had bribed Jiraiya to learn of a seal that could remove the dangers of it's eyes.

Getting close to it without dying would be easy. Getting on it without getting bitten was another story.

Shino levitated downwards on his air disks, since he didn't want to slide down. It was a dead giveaway he had done something.

Besides, he didn't want to catch anything from the muck.

He went down the passages, his lightning bugs giving him more than enough light. He had managed to get rid of half his Japanese wasp hive, which seemed to alleviate the problem he was having with them. Once he returned, he was putting the rest back into the communal hive.

He had already shown the odd beetle to his father, though he suspected it wasn't a beetle at all. He kept forgetting to ask McGonagall if it was possible to become an insect animagi.

Seeing the rather tacky door, he couldn't help but wonder if this was designed by Orochimaru. Going inside, he really had to wonder. If it wasn't for the relief at the back, he would have sworn he had found Orochimaru's secret base. It was certainly tacky enough.

Shino tried various commands to open the door, but none seemed to work. Finally, he got fed up enough that he said _"Speak to me Slytherin."_

The mouth opened...and Shino heard the sound of something coming out. He swappped out his glasses for the ones he had bought. They were blacked out, unlike the usual pair he wore that dimmed the lighting. It would take a little water to clean off the paint.

"_Who dares enter my lair?"_ a voice hissed. It sounded cranky.

He must have woken up. Terrific...

"_I have a business proposition for you,"_ said Shino.

"_Go on..."_

"_If you allow me to seal your eyes, I can get you out of this drafty, cold cave and into a forest with plenty of prey for you to eat. I could even alleviate some of the fang ache from having too much venom in there."_

"_And in exchange?"_

"_You become a summon animal for a friend of mine. She absolutely adores snakes, and you would be the ideal pet for someone like her. And no one would come after you to kill you because of your abilities."_

"_...You have a deal hatchling."_

Shino carefully approached the serpent, guided only by his lightning bugs. He moved his hands in the appropriate seals, and then made sure the killing gaze was shut off. Then he removed his glasses just to be sure.

The snake had to be nearly a hundred and ten feet long, and very deadly. Shino placed the large seal on the ground, which would teleport the snake straight to the Forest of Death. Manda would insure that it survived the trip through the summons realm.

He used his chakra to walk up the slime covered wall, and found Haku with Myrtle, still chatting away.

"It was nice meeting you Myrtle-San," said Shino.

He couldn't wait to see how Anko reacted to her new pet snake.

* * *

**_In case everyone hasn't noticed, the more you review, the more inclined I am to update. And any flirting between the soon-to-be named basilisk and Shino will have to wait until they return to Konoha. If you want that Howler Mrs. Weasly sent, I could probably work it into another chapter as a pensieve memory or something._  
**


	17. Chapter 17

Shino dragged Naruto to the Room of Requirement. He had heard about it from the House Elves, who also told him how to open it.

He was going to tell Naruto about his birth parents.

Naruto wondered why the room was filled to the brim with breakable items. Shino stood beside him and said "Naruto, I got permission from the Hokage to tell you something."

"What? It can't be too bad coming from you..."

"She gave me permission to tell you who your parents were. Your birth parents."

And suddenly the room fill of breakable objects made sense. What better way to work out all the anger and frustration than to break things?

Naruto looked at him with shock.

"You knew? This whole time?"

"I didn't know. I figured it out by accident and the Third Hokage forced me to keep it a secret. Tsunade said you were ready to know the truth."

Naruto wasn't too angry at his friend...Shino had always looked out for him and never tried to hurt him.

"Who...who were they?"

"Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Your dad was the Fourth Hokage and your mom was the last of a long line from a Village that was destroyed a while back. According to the Third Hokage, your mother was the last container for your furry friend."

"My mom...had the Kyuubi inside her too?"

Then the first piece of information came back to mind.

"WAIT A MINUTE? MY DAD WAS THE FOURTH? WHAT KIND OF JERK FORCES HIS SON TO HOST A DEMON FOR KAMI'S SAKE?"

Shino quickly left the room before Naruto got started. He even left a canister of sweetened coffee so he could wear himself out.

An hour later Shino walked out to a massacre...of glass and ceramic. The entire room was destroyed beyond recognition.

Naruto was tired, but he was calm.

"Better?"

"Better. So is that why the Blondaime has been trying to follow me?"

"Yeah. He knew you were his son, but apparently he never expected you to be hated because of the Fox. Grown ups _never _think ahead for some reason."

"Ain't that the truth."

"Feel like rejoining the group, or do you want a day off?"

"Day off. Hinata will understand. And Shino?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Thanks for telling me."

"If anyone deserved to know, especially after the way the Fox was dumped on you, it was you. I just wasn't allowed to say anything until now... I have a special treat in mind for your Christmas present, and it involves your parents."

Naruto gave his usual fox grin, and Shino left him to think.

* * *

Shino walked out to the lake...and found the most amusing sight he had seen in a while.

Hinata was terrifying the first years while dodging the fifth years spells. The Bulgarians were really giving her a dirty look, though Krum seemed amused more than anything.

Apparently she had decided to swim as her animagus form, and it was freaking everyone out.

Shino walked onto the lake surface, ignoring the horrified cries of those on shore.

"Having fun Hinata?"

She gave him a sharky grin.

"You do realize lunch starts in about ten minutes right?"

She gave him a look.

"Do you really want to eat raw fish?"

She was quick to swim to shore at that comment. Shino had to hold his laughter back at the shock on the students faces, but Krum was snickering from the side lines.

Shino later learned that Krum had tried to turn into a great white during the last task, but had only managed a partial transformation.

He never did find out the girl's name that came out of the cup.

Naruto, when he came down for dinner, laughed his ass off when he heard of Hinata's prank. So did the twins, who found Shino much scarier.

* * *

Shino had already secured his date to the ball (Haku) but he quickly realized there was a small problem.

He had nothing to wear. He wasn't expecting there to be any formal events planned.

And he wasn't the only one panicking about that. Naruto never _had_ any formal wear to begin with, let alone dancing lessons.

(Shino's mother loved to dance, and there was a civilian who taught classes. She forced her son and husband to accompany her to each one.)

Sasuke, having left his formal kimono at home, was in a similar state. Though he had asked Hermione out minutes after hearing there was going to be a ball.

Apparently he had beaten Viktor Krum to the punch.

There was only _one_ sane solution to their problems, and it wasn't buying dress robes from the wizards.

Shino and Hinata would have to make an emergency trip back to Konoha to retrieve the outfits they would need. The did a repeat of before, only this time they would go by frog only.

Hinata went to work, buying the kimonos they needed for her, Haku and Naruto while Shino made a quick run for him and Sasuke. Since the teachers had given Shino permission to bring his parents (as chaperones, but also because they needed to make sure that they could come for the last task) he went and made a special trip to his family compound.

Shino owned a set of formal kimonos, but he had never actually _worn_ them outside of a clan meeting his father had him attend every once in a while. Sasuke had already told him where to find his set.

His mother, when she learned of the ball, went into her room and brought something out. It was something she planned on giving Haku at some point, but she had never gotten around to it. It was a rather fancy looking hair piece that never really suited her.

Butterflies weren't her thing. She preferred moths.

Once they had all the things they needed (and permission for Shibi and his wife to leave the village with their son for a few days) they traveled through the toad's stomach back to the Forest.

It would be child's play for Shino's parents to make it look like they arrived by apparition. He had described it often enough.

Aside from having to help Naruto actually tie his kimono on properly (he had never worn one before) the group was more or less ready to go.

Anko had surprised them all with her rather intricate kimono, complete with embroidered obi brocade. To say Snape was surprised at the change would be an understatement. Not that he was complaining mind you.

Shino had a delicately embroidered black kimono, with his clan symbol stitched in the back. The main theme wasn't snakes or insects, but rather lightning. Since he couldn't wear his usual sunglasses to the ball (McGonagall had complained about that to him) he reluctantly switched them out with lightly tinted glasses that didn't hide the color of his eyes. Haku blackmailed him into wearing his hitai ate around his shoulder, rather than around his head like he usually did.

Sasuke wore his best kimono, which was the only one that didn't itch like mad. It was one of the few he actually liked. The color was a deep navy blue, similar to his usual outfits, and the Uchiha fan was embroidered on the sleeves. The theme to the embroidery was fire, which didn't surprise the others in the least. Like Shino, he wore his hitai ate around his left shoulder.

Naruto wore a light midnight blue colored kimono that Hinata picked out. The theme was wind, and had his Uzumaki swirls around the bottom of it. She had to ask for those. Naruto had his hitai ate around his shoulder like the others.

Hinata wore a pale lavender kimono with an earthy theme to compliment Naruto's wind one. Unlike the boys, the girls wore their hitai ate around their right shoulder, though Hinata was the only one in the group who wore hers around her neck.

Haku wore her favorite pink kimono with waves embroidered on the bottom. Zabusa had gotten it for her years ago, mostly so she would have something nice to wear. She had her hair done up around the butterfly piece Shino's mother had given her, though she had to have help braiding it.

She was the only kunoichi, aside from Anko, who wore her hair long enough to braid.

To the surprise of everyone, Shibi and his wife also came in their favorite kimonos.

Much to the annoyance of the wizards, the shinobi all outdid them in terms of formal wear. A few of the girls were very jealous of the way they were dressed.

Luckily for Hermione, Sasuke had given her a hair piece his mother had liked to wear for formal occasions. Her dress was similar enough to a yakuta that she didn't feel left out.

To say Ron had been shocked by the change was oversimplifying matters. He had never seen Hermione as a female before, and had only asked her to the ball as a last resort. She had been rather offended by that fact, and had refused to speak to him directly since.

Shino waited patiently to go out, and was pleased to see all eyes on him and his girlfriend. Naruto was giving him a thumbs up, grinning like mad.

Shibi was talking to Hagrid about his job, to the man's delight, as he listened with rapt attention about the large bugs found in the Forest of Death.

Hagrid had agreed to leave Hogwarts, since the scenery was a bit dull for him. He had only stayed because he would attract too much attention elsewhere, and because of the favor he owed Dumbledore.

Realizing that he would never truly fit in around England, Hagrid made up his mind to move away. At least people wouldn't stare so much in Konoha. The Akamichi clan was known for it's girth, and they were nearly as big as he was!

It was a rather pleasant night for all, especially for Shino's mother. Yuri had a real set of lungs on her, and was keeping them up at night. Fortunately the silencing wards were rather strong around the room, so she didn't bother the rest of the clan. At the moment Yuri was being taken care of by Hana and Sirius, who were currently dating.

Shino still found it amusing to hear Sirius whine every time Hana manhandled him into the bi monthly flea bath they gave the dogs. Sirius still couldn't find the spell that kept away fleas and ticks, and he couldn't ask McGonagall for it either.

Shino planned to send Naruto in for the spell, in exchange for a favor from the dog animagus. It had been something of a surprise to the staff to learn that almost all the exchange students were animagi.

Thankfully their status as residents of the Elemental Countries kept the Ministry from forcing them to register.

(They were thankful that the other animal forms were a bit more tame, like a fox and a wolf. Hinata and Shino's forms had come as a nasty shock to them. Even now Shino pretended to be the snake from the Chamber of Secrets to give people a good scare. The twins usually directed those attacks, often bribing him with pranks.)

It was roughly near the end of the night that Shino found out an interesting tidbit.

It turned out the beetle he found in Haku's hair wasn't a real beetle at all...but rather the annoying reporter who had highjacked him during the weighing of the wands.

In exchange for not blowing the whistle on her illegal animagi form, Rita had to leave Shino alone and report the tournament like it really was.

She wasn't happy about the arrangement, but she had little choice in the matter.

(Finding out she had come very, very close to becoming part of a massive hive of deadly insects had nearly given her a heart attack. The only reason she avoided that fate was because she switched back almost immediately upon seeing what awaited her if she stayed a beetle.)

Shino and Haku went out into the garden. Hermione had been unhappy to learn that Sasuke didn't like dancing that much, but had been surprised when he allowed Viktor Krum to dance with her.

The only reason they were still dating was because Sasuke promised to take dance lessons when he got home. He just didn't want to embarrass her...or scare her away early because of his Sharingan.

* * *

Shino was surprised to hear that the last portion of the tournament was a maze, but he was prepared. Unlike the rest of the champions, he could cheat.

Naruto could see everything from above, and he could give Shino directions to the center through the lightning bugs. Shibi had approved of the strategy, which meant there wasn't anything to keep him from going through with it.

There was one slight catch though.

Anko had become more and more concerned about Moody. He had taken a large interest in Shino since he got a good look at his eyes and the scar on his head. The bangs had covered most of it up, but a portion of it was still visible.

Dumbledore was still furious his pawn was entered under another school and wouldn't return in the fall.

Snape had never been more amused in some time.

Quite a few gaped when they realized exactly _who_ Shino was. It took Rita Skeeter to spell it out for the rest.

* * *

_**Harry Potter Returns under new name, Fourth Tri Wizard Champion representing the Elemental Countries!**_

_In a surprise turn of events, Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, is finally found. And in the last place anyone expected!_

_The fourth Champion, chosen to represent the new school for magic in the Elemental Countries, Shino Aburame, is in fact the missing boy-who-lived! When asked why he never announced his presence earlier this year, Shino had this to say._

"_I've never been anything more than the heir to the Aburame clan, and I have no intention of changing my name."_

_According to his teacher, Anko Mitarashi, he is part of a team of three. Currently all three are attending the school for the year as an exchange program until their magical academy is built. Currently there are only ten known mages in their home village, but the number is said to be growing every week._

_Unlike Europe, the Elemental Countries do not erase the memories of those who see magic. Instead they work alongside the muggles to create large villages of mixed blood. Some even rise to be the Kage, a position roughly equivalent to the Minister of Magic here._

_Rumors have placed these 'Kages' or 'Shadows' to be roughly as strong as Dumbledore or even He-who-must-not-be-named._

_Rita Skeeter_

_**Elemental Countries, see page six**_

_**Treaties with the Elemental Countries, Page ten**_

Shino finished the article highly amused...and somewhat annoyed. Since the Prophet pretty much announced his birth name, people had been giving him the weirdest looks.

He was so tempted to unleash his lightning bugs just to get them to leave him alone.

Thankfully, because of Haku's presence, none of the fan girls were trying to attach themselves to him.

Instead they were trying to get Haku to dump him. Madam Pomphrey was baffled as to how that many girls ended up with frostbite and loss of movement. She couldn't find a single spell that would cause such a reaction.

Shino was irritated enough that he mentioned out loud to the twins that Naruto was his first cousin...and soon the girls were out for the blond's blood as well.

Hinata proved to be as terrifying as her animal form suggested, because the fan girls dropped like flies around her. She wasn't as timid as she used to be, and she wasn't afraid to break a few bones to fight for her man.

Sasuke found the reversal of the fan girl hoard absolutely hilarious. And he even shared a few escape plans with them.

Shino and Naruto used the most obvious solution.

They had their shadow clones distract the rabid unattached females while they walked on the roof to their classes. Sasuke really envied them, because he still had trouble with his shadow clones.

On the plus side, Hermione was beating off his new fan club with her wand, and no one wanted to anger the misplaced Ravenclaw.

Who knew what she would do if she got serious?

Eventually people gave up, but not before the third task was around the corner.

* * *

Anko was already antsy, because somehow one of the judges ended up dead. Haku, who had been working side by side with the school healer, was right beside Barty Crouch when it happened. She felt the spell hitting him, and tried to find the caster.

Instead she ran right into Moody.

Anko had suspected something was off about Moody, because she had heard he lost his leg years ago.

So why did his movements read as though he just lost his leg? And the flask stank to high heaven, meaning he was drinking a potion. When she described the smell, Snape knew that Moody was drinking polyjuice...a potion that turned you into a magical doppelganger of a living person.

But it was the eyes that gave him away. Aurors, who acted like the equivalent of the ANBU Police Force, caught bad guys and tried not to become the people they captured.

Moody's eyes were cold, and they reminded her far too much of the missing nin she often came across in the T and I department.

All of this lead to one inescapable conclusion. Moody was Moody. But they had no proof, so they waited until he made his move.

* * *

Since Shino had the highest points, he was going in first. Naruto would direct him to the center and away from any traps he saw. Shino had the advantage in this game...his speed and strength would get him through the maze faster than the others.

One by one, they went into the maze. Naruto helped him avoid most of the traps, but some of the smaller ones were still hard to get out of.

Ten minutes after Fluer entered, Shino heard a scream. It had to be her, because none of the other champions had such a high reedy voice. Naruto directed him to where he saw flashes of light, and Shino came across the strangest sight.

Viktor Krum was torturing Fluer. Shino took action, and knocked him out.

Someone had to have been controlling him, because Krum was one of the most honorable men Shino had ever met outside the Village.

George burst through the shrubbery, out of breath. He had run as soon as he heard the scream, intending to help.

"Be careful. Someone is tampering with this task," said Shino.

"What do you mean?"

"I just stopped Krum from killing Fluer. The only reason he woul do that is if he was being controlled, because he is one of the few Bulgarians who has actually treated women civilly."

George believed him. Krum was one of the few pure bloods who didn't look down on Hermione for being a first generation witch. He was even directing her to some interesting books.

Even though it was obvious Hermione liked Sasuke better, he had no problems with the two being friends. It was one of the reasons Hermione liked her boyfriend so much.

He wasn't the jealous type.

George was having the worst luck in the maze. He kept getting turned around.

Shino had only one rule if he wanted to follow him. Either keep up or shut up.

The two of them made it to the center at the same time. The only catch was that there was a huge acromantula guarding the goblet.

"...I want you to swear you won't saying anything without my permission. I'm about to use a secret trick that only my clan can do," said Shino.

George shivered...that tone of voice spoke volumes about what Shino was going to do. He was planning to kill the spider.

"Not a problem, so long as I can tell Fred."

"Fine by me."

Shino unleashed the lightning bugs, and the spider finally noted their presence.

It took one look at the bugs, then at Shino, and did the one thing that would haunt George forever.

It turned tail and ran like hell. Hagrid had brought the spider from the Forbidden Forest, and Shino had already earned a reputation among it's inhabitants. Particularly the spider colony.

"Do I dare ask why?"

"I hate spiders."

"Spider fear?" asked George.

"More along the lines of I hate any creature who can eat my hive. Which at the moment consists of spiders, bats and frogs. Toads I can live with because of my brother."

"Ah. So what now?"

"I take the glory and give you the gold?" suggested Shino.

"A good promotion for that magical academy your village is building, and a starting investment for us. Sounds fair to me," said George.

Shino grasped the goblet...and felt the portkey activate. He wasn't quick enough to let go of it.


	18. Chapter 18

When Shino came to (he had hit his head on a rock) he found himself bound to an angel statue...before a cauldron big enough for a man to fit in.

The man before him reminded him painfully of a rat. Right down to the sharp teeth.

Shino's attention was drawn to the blanket. Something resembling an infant was inside, and he had a suspicion it wasn't good.

So he used a minor escape technique and replaced his body with a bug clone. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference until it was too late.

He watched as the foul ritual was put into place. When the rat man tried to take his blood by force, Shino watched as his lightning bugs gave him a nasty shock.

"Looking for me?" he said calmly.

"How did you...?"

"You shouldn't underestimate the Aburame clan," said Shino. His bugs fluttered around his head, creating an unearthly halo.

The rat man swung his knife wildly...until he got a lucky strike in and managed to land some of Shino's blood in the cauldron.

"If you think a mere scratch is going to bother someone like me, you have another thing coming."

Shino electrocuted the rat, but not before he cut off his own hand and threw it into the bubbling liquid. Shino took cover behind the statue, and witnessed the rebirth of the Dark Lord.

He was decidedly unimpressed.

"What is it with bad guys and their snake obsession? I mean really, why do you go to such lengths to get rid of your noses?"

Voldemort sneered at him, and tried to hit him with the cruciatus.

Shino avoided it with ease.

"I take it you're the one who has a beef with the old goat in the castle."

"That's right, Potter! And now I shall complete my greatest work!"

"...Whatever. You do realize you could have saved yourself a world of trouble by hiring someone to kill the old man from the Elemental Countries? It's not like he could actually defeat someone like me," said Shino blandly.

Voldemort stared at him. The Potter brat, who had taken him out thirteen years ago...was calmly talking about killing Dumbledore as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course there is the minor problem of the fact that you now resemble the Sannin traitor Orochimaru, but let's face it...you two both have a thing for little boys," said Shino in the same calm manner.

Voldemort was taken aback. This was not the same Potter brat the Magical Communities had envisioned. He wasn't a blind follower of the Light, and he most certainly didn't care for Dumbledore.

"Let me make one thing clear, Voldemort, if that even is your name. I am not Harry Potter anymore. I lost that name a long time ago. My name is Aburame Shino, of the Aburame clan of Konoha. I am the cousin of Naruto Uzumaki, the future Fire Shadow of Konohagakure. And you sir, have annoyed me greatly."

"Prepare to die."

And with those words, his hive came out in the thousands. Voldemort, in an attempt to save his own skin, called back the Death Eaters.

The arrived in short time...only to fall by the insect droves. One of them was dumb enough to kill a Japanese wasp...and then all hell really broke loose.

Shino was immune to the screams of people who died by his hive. Out of the thirty Death Eaters who had come at Voldemort's call, only four escaped alive. Voldemort himself had fled as soon as they had shown up.

Shino tried to recall his hive, but found that the wasps were consumed by bloodlust. They wouldn't sting him as a courtesy, but they wouldn't be controlled anymore either.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn't want things to come to this...

His lightning bugs became overcharged with his chakra, and soon the sound of a bug zapper was heard. The remaining wasps fell to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

Shino silently cried for their deaths. Say what you will about an Aburame, but they cared for their insects like they did their children. Being forced to kill them was extremely painful.

Even if the permanent expansion charm that was inside his body would have it a bit easier, it didn't mean Shino had to like killing the wasps.

He found the goblet...and the burnt body of the rat man. Somehow he knew the man was going to become useful, even if he was dead.

Once he returned, he gave the rat man (who's name turned out to be Peter Pettigrew, formerly assumed dead by Sirius Black) to the Aurors.

Moody drew him into his office...only to find Shino waiting for him with his kunai at his throat.

"Did you really believe we were fooled by your act?"

Anko burst in, and when she saw the way Shino had pinned Moody she grinned with unholy glee. Moody began to change before their eyes...turning into a slightly younger Barty Crouch.

"Oh, this is even better! I get to play with a Death Eater!" she said with glee.

"It gets better Anko. Their version of Orochimaru is on the loose again, though he'll be more wary of bugs after I got to him. Bastard used my blood to come back," said Shino annoyed.

"Does this mean we get to play even more?" asked Anko.

"Huh...I suppose it does. Tell you what, if they hire me to come back I'll bring you along. You can have all the fun you want breaking your new toys," said Shino.

Anko cackled so evilly that Barty Crouch Jr. pissed his pants from hearing it.

Alas, she never got to play with him because Dumbledore chose to show up at that moment.

"Damn! I was hoping on making him scream..." grumbled Anko.

Shino handed over the gold, and told the twins if they wanted he would help them set up shop in Konoha. Their pranks would sell like hotcakes there.

Fred and George immediately made plans to move there once they graduated. Konoha sounded like it would be loads of fun to prank.

(Plus they already knew Naruto and Shino would be their best customers!)

* * *

Hermione was going to leave with them, as soon as they picked her parents up.

After being informed of her decision (and being cleared by an amused Anko to come in) they had closed their practice down so they could move to Konoha.

Since it was likely Hermione would marry Sasuke, he offered to let them move into the house across the street. It wasn't like he had anything better to do with all those empty houses.

(He was already renting the ones on the outskirts.)

Shino was leaving England behind for home. He had already been offered an apprenticeship with Anko, and she had plans to make him the next Torture and Interrogation leader.

She had seen the penseive memory of how he handle the Orochimaru-wannabe.

She had also seen the memory of the howler...which only Sasuke was lucky (?) enough to witness, as Shino had warned the others in time.

* * *

_**And now, by special request by the reviewers, here is the howler Molly Weasly sent Ron after she learned of his unofficial mission!**_

_Sasuke went into the great hall, and his senses went into overdrive when he realized the rest of his team was conspicuously missing. Especially Anko, who was usually up at the breakfast table before the rest._

_It wasn't until he saw the red envelope and the hushed silence fell that he knew all hell was going to break loose._

_The moment it touched Ron, the envelope began to shriek. The only time he heard that decibel level was when Shino turned Sakura Haruno's hair a puke green._

**"_RONALD WEASLY! I had thought you had learned something from the last time you tried to follow in the twins footsteps! You should have known better than to get into such a high stakes bet that put another student in danger! I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life! You could have ruined the family with this stunt, and it would have been entirely YOUR fault!_**

**_If I hear that you've lost so much as another galleon in such an idiotic persuit, I will wring your neck and ground you until it's paid off!"_**

_Ron had winced, and turned as red as his hair when the Slytherins started howling with laughter. Sasuke had to rub his ears from the volume level._

_So that was the voice of Ron's mother...definitely more fierce than his own had ever been..._

* * *

For the past three months since their return, there had been a marked change in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It had slowly begun to incorporate new blood from the Outside. The small Magic Academy, which was little more than three newly built floors above the Shinobi Academy was quickly growing in size.

It seemed that the large number of first generation witches and wizards from Europe had read the article about the Elemental countries, and wanted to move there. All the bigotry and pure blood supremacy had made it all but impossible for the muggleborns to actually thrive under the current conditions.

On the plus side, it meant the village was quickly recovering from the attack Orochimaru had launched at the village during the last Chunin exam.

Fortunately, Shino and his team had recruited top rate teachers to help with the overflow of magic users. While chakra and magic normally didn't mix that well, the boundaries between the two classes were practically nonexistent.

That was because the Noble Clans of the Village supported the new influx of people. Their children saw what the shinobi could do, and like all the children already in the Academy they were hooked. The magic users didn't care that their children were essentially learning to be killers and mercenaries, so long as they had a good life.

The sad fact was that the village of mercenaries and killers offered more to the muggleborns than the society they had abandoned. And they honestly could care less about the state of their blood, so long as they held up their own end in a fight.

Quite a few of the people who moved to Konoha were healers, aurors and the like. Some had even been in positions at the Ministry, and knew their way around paperwork.

Tsunade knew exactly what to do with people like that. She used them to free up the shinobi staff so they could focus on getting stronger. Unlike the civilians of the village, the magical folk weren't going to be as freaked out by the shinobi displaying their abilities.

Magic tended to immunize people against the bizarre and extraordinary. It pleased Tsunade to no end about that.

In other news, Hagrid had found his niche in Konoha. He was both the creature instructor and the person to go to for the newly hatched dragons. Since he had once hatched and kept a newborn dragon alive, he was the best person to ask.

Sasuke absolutely loved his new pet, which he had named Taiyo. To the surprise of everyone, Shino had accidentally grabbed to Horntails, one Chinese Fireball and a Peruvian Vipertooth. Apparently the dragon tamers had grabbed different eggs by mistake.

Hagrid was pleased to have his new Horntail. A quick letter to Charlie Weasly produced another dragon...the infant Hagrid had hatched and tried to raise which he had named Norbert.

Charlie, once he found out where the missing eggs had gotten to (he thought it a great prank, and was somewhat glad that the shinobi had no intention of harming the dragons), had even brought guides on how to take care of them. And a book on how to breed them, when Shino made his intention clear.

He was rather surprised to see where the shinobi had them...and rather alarmed to learn that one had taken the snake from the Chamber of Secrets as a pet.

If they could handle that thing, then they could easily tame dragons.

(Shino had the Vipertooth, which was rather tame since he talked to it every day.)

The other Horntail went to the weapon mistress in training, Tenten. Sasuke had the Fireball, though he had alarmed his girlfriend when she first found out about the dragon eggs.

Much to the displeasure of Hermione, she learned that since she was over ten, they couldn't unlock her chakra coils without making it impossible to use magic. But Shino had another idea, which would help integrate the magical and shinobi populations.

If they couldn't unlock the magicals chakra coils, then why not try to duplicate the shinobi's jutsu through magic and hand signs? It wasn't like an enemy shinobi would know the difference, and it would cut down the dependence for wands.

The new magical civilians were all for it.

Hermione was spearheading that idea, and was using her intellect and knowledge to do just that. She had always been looking for a real challenge, and had hoped magic would be the answer. She had been sorely disappointed that it wasn't...until now.

Snape was already pleased with his new post. He actually _did_ like teaching, but years of dealing with inbred morons had soured that. Teaching shinobi was a welcome relief, because for the most part they actually listened. If he wanted them to learn something, they would practice until they got it right. Particularly if they were making poisons, antidotes or healing potions.

* * *

Sasuke watched as Hermione tried out her new weapon. She didn't like fighting that much, but she had no issue in defending her new home. Hermione drew the bow back in a practiced motion.

No one back at Hogwarts knew she had been into archery before she got her letter. It was time to relearn old skills.

As he stood by the training post, calm as ever, Hermione shot the bow. Sasuke didn't flinch as it went past his right ear and into the post, dead center.

Hermione let out a breath.

"I've never had someone who actually trusted me not to miss."

"You're a better shot with that thing than with a kunai," Sasuke observed.

"I'm used to it. My parents thought if I had a normal hobby I could make more friends."

"Did it work?"

"Not really. People were always afraid I would miss if I shot them, and they didn't like the way I corrected them all the time," she admitted.

"Around here, if you correct someone they usually thank you for it, especially if you help them to improve."

Hermione beamed at him.

"Want some help with your aim?"

"Absolutely!"

After that, Hermione was introduced to some basic strengthening exercises. She wore the weights around her arms and wrists to improve her stamina, and the heavier ones around her legs. Within a few months she was on par with an Academy student.

Every time she was able to move freely with her weights, she would add more. She was nothing if not a perfectionist.

It didn't hurt that Tenten was more than happy to get her reacquainted with the bow. She was rather fascinated with the way Hermione enchanted hers to fire different elements. In exchange for helping her practice, Hermione helped Tenten learn how to enchant using Ancient Runes.

* * *

"You're going with Jiraiya on a year long training trip?" Shino asked Naruto in surprise.

"Year and a half. The Blondaime is coming along too, so he can help me improve. Jiraiya is hoping to make his return permanent, at least until he dies in battle or natural causes."

"What about Hinata?"

"Thanks to the new magicals, we have owl post here. Is it alright if Hinata borrows Tenshi so we can talk while I'm away?"

Shino had bought his girlfriend a snowy owl he had found. The owl had the most imperious attitude he had ever seen, but she was highly intelligent and very loyal. Haku had fallen in love with the bird, and named her Tenshi because she looked like she had angel wings.

Or as Shino liked to joke, the wings of an arch angel. Tenshi was more of a Valkyrie than an angel. She didn't mind Shino at all, often looking at him like a nestling.

She also had issues with spiders and rats. It was the main reason Shino liked her.

"Ask Haku. I'm sure she wouldn't mind, since that was what Tenshi was originally trained for."

Haku certainly didn't mind, so long as Naruto sent them back presents. Hinata was very relieved to hear about his plan to send regular messages.

Shino was going to be interned at the T and I division, under Anko. He had a knack for the subject, though he rarely got to use it.

Right before Naruto was to leave, a mission came in from England.

Voldemort had made his move. Apparently he had taken the fact that Shino wanted nothing to do with the Magical Society to heart, because he announced his presence far earlier than he would have.

Shino forgot to tell Dumbledore that his problem was back. As a result, they were rather unprepared to deal with him.

So the word was sent for reinforcements. Since a good majority of the muggleborn population had move to the Elemental Countries (a good few went to Leaf, but some went to Sand, Mist and Rock) Voldemort suddenly had a shortage of victims. The muggleborns hadn't just moved their children, they had also removed their immediate family members.

As a result of that, the Dark Lord started focusing more heavily on the Pure Blood population.

Which was why Fudge had sent a request to Konoha, since that was where their supposed savior lived.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, how will we handle this?" asked Shino.

"While it is important for us to take missions, I have to consider the danger to my forces. Shino, in your opinion, is this Voldemort a threat?"

"He's an Orochimaru-wannabe. He isn't used to our techniques, and relies heavily on the Unforgivable curses. One of which supposedly kills with one hit. Another controls the mind, while the last one causes absolute pain. He is also adept at forbidden magics."

Snape came in.

"It's not just that. He's like a child with a favorite toy. If he doesn't get his way, then he uses the cruciatus to cause unbearable pain. He's driven a good portion of his own men insane from that one curse."

"Is he a threat?"

"The man is egotistical enough to believe that all those without pure magical blood are worth killing. I have no doubt once he figures out a way to contact your Orochimaru, then the two could prove a bigger threat than you can imagine. It doesn't exactly help that the two share similar tastes either..." grimaced Snape.

"Similar...you don't mean?"

"Any young males we found were taken out by the Dark Lord personally. I had the misfortune to come across one after he had his way with him...it wasn't pretty, and I made sure to give the poor child a painless death."

"Only thing you can do under the circumstances."

Snape had been relieved when he found out that distance from England caused the Dark Mark to vanish. Shino, when he looked into it, had managed to remove the spells on the tattoo, so Snape wouldn't be harmed by it.

Snape had the tattoo removed by the healers.


	19. Chapter 19

Shino was having a peaceful day when he heard music being played loudly. Sitting up from his cloud watching (Shikamaru had suggested this spot) he looked around. And then he saw her.

"Kin? When did you get back?" asked Shino.

"Hello Shino!" she chirped. She had left months ago for a special training session with one of the lesser genjutsu masters.

The months had been kind to her, and she had definitely changed from the snarky girl he had rescued from Orochimaru.

She no longer had the tacky outfit of the Sound. Her outfit was a cross between a miko outfit and something Ino would wear. Her top was sleeveless and was white with red trimmings. It had a white fishnet that went up to her neck. She had red shorts with dark red edges, and her shoes were the regular sandals most fo the other shinobi wore. Around her neck was a set of headphones, which is where the music he heard before came from. They were playing a rather catchy beat.

He could hear the light sound of bells from her senbon pouch. From the way she acted, she had definitely expanded on her bell genjutsu.

"So...would you like to have a sparring session?"

"No elemental jutsu. I'm still trying to get the hang of my wind attribute."

"Fine by me."

Shino ducked under the senbon with wires. Kin had found a way to make her sonic genjutsu envelop a larger area. The headphones she was wearing served a dual purpose.

The first was to help her with the genjutsu...while the other made her taijutsu erratic but effective. She danced to a beat only she could hear, but it made hitting her very difficult.

Once Shino had her pinned, he grinned behind his coat.

"I'm glad you're back Kin. Things are going to get a little crazy around here soon. We'll need all the help we can get."

"It feels good to have a home, Shino-kun."

* * *

"So Jiraiya is taking you on a training trip?" said Shino.

"Yeah, Pervy Sage said it would be a good idea to do it before the Akatsuki really start to move."

"Make sure he knows that I will shred any hint of his books in Konoha if I find out he slacked in your training. Who knows, maybe he can help you learn more about sealing. I know you have a ton of books on the subject in your room."

"Oh yeah! But do you think he'll even understand sealing books?" asked Naruto.

"I heard that he is Konoha's best seal master. Couldn't hurt."

"What will you do for over a year?"

"Anko has offered me an apprenticeship in the T and I division. I'm the only one who can brew that truth serum we found in large enough quantities. Besides, Snape has offered to brew us some polyjuice that can be stored for months at a time."

"Sounds like he's fitting right in!" said Naruto.

"We've been getting a lot of normal born witches and wizards since the article. They would rather have their children raised as mercenaries and learn their magic here rather than have them brought up in a world full of prejudice, blood hate and fear."

"Yeah, I can see how this place would be more appealing. Outside was filled with people who thought like the Uchiha. Even if it meant their kids would end up becoming killers, it was still the better option."

"I...don't like to kill. Hell, I hate having to torture others for information. But we do what we must to protect our precious people."

"Yeah..."

"On the plus side, I'll be heading to Waterfall soon. Apparently the found an escaped criminal with secrets from Konoha, and I've been selected to insure he doesn't escape."

"Sounds like fun," said Naruto.

"I'll be sure to bring you some new plants to grow," said Shino.

"Things are going to change soon, aren't they," said Naruto.

"Probably, but change is needed to grow," said Shino.

"Good luck, bro. Try not to get squished," said Naruto. He had some packing to do.

"Safe travels little brother," said Shino.

* * *

"_He's over there!"_

"_Don't let him escape!"_

Shino was running alongside the girl they sent as his back up. For some odd reason the Waterfall nin seemed to hold her in familiar contempt. It took Shino an hour to figure out the cause.

"You're a Jinchuriki, aren't you?" asked Shino.

Fuu, the girl who had the greenest hair he had ever seen winced.

"How did you know?" she asked.

Shino noticed that the Waterfall shinobi tensed at the subject.

"My younger brother is the container of the Nine-tails. I recognized the signs of general loathing and you're too nice to possibly had done something to piss this many shinobi off."

Fuu beamed at him for the compliment.

It didn't take much for her to reveal that she had a beetle demon, and had Shino's full attention on her. To the amusement of the Leaf shinobi he was leading, the two got into an in-depth discussion on beetle types. Fuu was surprisingly well informed about them.

It was Shikamaru who brought up Haku and Kin while they were setting up for the night.

"You do realize that those two might actually strangle you if they learned you were flirting with another girl..."

"Unless she does something to convince them to share," replied Shino. Neither were aware that Fuu was actually listening to them.

"How the hell could you convince them to share you with another girl? I still don't get how those two share you!" said Kiba.

"Easy. Haku and Kin are open minded about a three way relationship, so long as I don't pay more attention to one and ignore the other. As long as I can give them equal attention, they would probably care less to add one more. Besides, the clan is eager to strengthen the kikaichu."

"How does having three girls strengthen the hives?" asked Kiba.

"For starters, any kids I have with Haku automatically get the Hyoten bloodline, and make their hives impervious to the cold. Kin's children would have heightened resistance to sound waves."

"And any kids Naruto has would get fox traits and higher chakra reserves..." said Shikamaru.

"So it really doesn't matter to anyone if I have an open relationship with two different girls, so long as I don't get too greedy."

"And you can handle to jealous single guys who call you a lucky bastard..." said Kiba grinning.

"How is he lucky? He's got two shinobi girlfriends who can kick his ass if he does something wrong and one of which can paralyze him in a near death state!" said Shikamaru, shuddering.

"This coming from the clan known for marrying strong willed women?" said Shino, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't remind me..." said Shikamaru.

A few days later they captured the target...who happened to be Mizuki, the teacher who betrayed Naruto and almost got him labeled a missing nin before he even made genin. Shino took particular pleasure in kicking him in the unmentionables as 'encouragement' to keep moving.

What Shino didn't realize was that he had laid the groundwork for Fuu to become his next girlfriend. She had found him charming and friendly, and he clearly didn't have issues with her containing a demon. Finding out that he was in an open relationship with two other girls was just a perk.

It took a week, but eventually Fuu managed to find a loophole that would allow her to go to Konoha for months on end.

* * *

_Six months later..._

Shino read the wizard newspaper with some concern. While Voldemort finally made it clear he was back, there was very little actually being done about it.

Dumbledore had attempted to hire shinobi (specifically Shino, who was out every time he showed up) but each time he had to leave because he was almost flat broke and the muggleborn who felt betrayed by his lies of equality kicked him out.

After a while they started putting up wards keyed to his magical signature. It was pretty obvious that he would never be able to pay for an actual mission to take care of his Dark Lord problem, and cleaning up the mess the muggleborn's made when they threw rotten fruit at him was too much of a hassle.

On the plus side, the diplomatic relations with Waterfall and Konoha had never been better. Fuu had successfully convinced them to make her the Ambassador and Waterfall...more out of a desire to get her away from the village than anything else.

As a result of the new relations, the village ended witnessing a rather odd sight.

The Aburame heir now had _three_ girlfriends instead of two, and not a single one was loyal to Konoha as a whole. He had a rather large fan base after Kin accidentally destroyed his spare coat, and his other one was in the wash getting the blood out.

The sight of his chest through the fish net was enough to get a good portion of the Uchiha fan base to switch to him. Something that made Sasuke laugh his ass off every time he thought about it.

It didn't help that a few people had a picture of the coatless Aburame...as well as the very rare picture of him without coat _or_ his sunglasses.

Haku and Kin had tried very hard to retrieve those, but a few slipped through their net. They had real trouble beating off the new fan base and prospective girlfriends. Anko had laughed herself sick after those pictures came out. His open-minded girlfriends had finally become a downside.

But it was seven months after returning from the Outside that things took a really nasty turn.

Ever since Dumbledore failed to produce the Boy-who-lived (who thought the name was ridiculous) the entire European magical community had it out for the shinobi continents. Apparently the so called Light Lord had spun a tale about how the shinobi were keeping their 'Savior' from them, which was why so many people were dying off.

* * *

**_I am well aware this is a short chapter, and it was more of a filler than anything. I only added another girl to Shino's harem because the Waterfall Jinchuriki has the beetle one inside her and it was too good not to use. Next chapter will be longer, I promise._**


End file.
